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Study: Teenagers Don't Sext So Much, After All
By
Jamie Feldmar
Published Dec 5, 2011
Modified Dec 5, 2011
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By
Jamie Feldmar
Published Dec 5, 2011
Modified Dec 5, 2011
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Despite reports that all teenagers are technologically overzealous horndogs, like, 24/7, a new study says to slow down just a minute—apparently teenagers aren't so into sexting, after all.
In a national study of 1,560 Internet users ages 10 through 17 about their experiences with sexting, University of New Hampshire researchers found that about one in ten minors between the ages of 10 and 17 have used a cell phone in the past year to send or receive nude suggestive images, but only 1 in 100 has sent images considered graphic enough to violate child pornography laws (i.e., showed naked breasts, genitals, or bottoms). Beyond that, only about two percent of teens involved in sexting said they had appeared in the pictures or had taken them themselves, compared to the seven percent who said they received sexual images from someone else (like an NYPD officer).
In fact, the people who are sexting most are actually...adults! Which is no real comfort to Huma Abedin, but should calm some paranoid parents. “This has been reported as if it were something that everyone was doing, not just in the teen population, but in the young adult population. It’s really not the case," said author Janis Wolak. Which means that parents, you can stop trying to figure out what that "CU46" on your kid's phone means.
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