Mitchell and her colleagues, however, found that it was relatively rare for sexual images to “go viral” through a school or community, or even among a group of friends. Just 10% of images wound up being distributed, while 3% of young people who received a nude or nearly nude image forwarded it to others or posted it online.
In a separate study in the same issue of Pediatrics, the researchers looked at a sample of 675 police cases involving youth sexting and found it was very rare for pictures to escape the cell-phone realm and be posted on the Internet. “Even though they could get out, it doesn’t seem that they’re being as widely distributed as we’re being led to believe,” Mitchell says.
Jill Murray, a psychotherapist in private practice in Orange County, Calif., and the author of But I Love Him: Protecting Your Teen Daughter From Controlling, Abusive Dating Relationships, says the findings of Mitchell and her colleagues may not capture the full extent of sexting among young people.
Even though the researchers assured the survey participants that the interviews were confidential, the kids may nevertheless have downplayed their sexting behavior, she says. “Teenagers are sort of suspicious that they’re talking to an adult, [that] an adult’s going to report them, or the person conducting the survey has their phone number,” Murray says. “I just don’t know that the kids were honest.”
And the low number of adolescents in the study who reported circulating images doesn’t ring true, adds Murray, who says she frequently sees girls who have sent a nude photo to a boyfriend that wound up being sent to all his friends, and their friends, and so on. “If you’re a 15-year-old kid that’s getting a naked or nearly naked picture of a girl, there’s practically no way you’re going to keep that photo to yourself. It’s almost a biological imperative.”
Although encouraging, the new study is a reminder that parents need to monitor their children’s cell-phone and Internet use, and explain to them the potential legal implications of transmitting nude images of minors, Murray and other experts say.
“It’s important that parents do understand that when you give your kid a cell phone, you’re really giving them a lot of power in terms of access and communication,” says Caroline Knorr, the parenting editor at Common Sense Media, a San Francisco-based advocacy organization that seeks to educate kids and families about media and technology. “It’s just really important to discuss your rules around what the responsible usage of that device is.”
