In a recent survey conducted by the Pew Research Center, it was found out that sending explicit content (yes, nude or near-naked photos) through a text message, is participated by teenagers too.
According to the survey conducted among 800 teenagers from June 26 to September 24, 4 percent of teens aging from 12-17 years old who own cellphones have actually sent nude or semi-naked photos of themselves to someone else via text message. Fifteen percent of the same age group has received these materials from people they know.
The survey also shows that older teens are more likely to send and receive these sexually provocative images via sexting. Eight percent of 17-year-olds with cellphones have sent these kinds of images and 30% have received these images.
Who pays the cellphone bills is a factor too. According to this survey, those teens that pay for their own phone bills were more likely to participate in sexting. It showed that 17% of teens who foot their own bills send sexually suggestive images via text while only 3% of teens who do not pay, or pay only a fraction of the cost participate in sexting.
Lastly, the survey conducted by the Pew Research Center showed that there are three main scenarios for sexting. The first one occurs between two romantic partners, the second between two people who are not yet in a relationship but where at least one person hopes to be. The last and the ugly side of this is when the images exchanged between partners are being forwarded and shared to people outside the relationship.
This survey is part of the Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project which tracks the effect of the Internet on American life.
Source: http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1440/teens-sexting-text-messages?src=prc-latest&proj=peoplepres
