Study reveals 20 percent of teens have sent naked images via phone

by Stevie Smith - Dec 12 2008, 13:00

Parents striving to steer their kids clear of inappropriate adult online content and potential sexual predators should perhaps think about widening focus to include mobile phones if the results of a new survey are anything to go by.

Specifically, a study commissioned by non-profit organisation the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy has revealed that around a third of young adults and 20 percent of teenagers have posted naked or semi-naked images or videos of themselves to other mobile phone handsets.

Conducted by Chicago-based research specialists Teenage Research Unlimited across 1,280 participating teens (13 to 17) and young adults (18 to 24), the study returned that 40 percent of young men admitted to viewing naked or semi-naked imagery originally sent to someone else.

Similarly, around 25 percent of teenage girls and young women said they had also seen such personal content, while 39 percent of teens and 59 percent of young people confessed to having engaged in rude technological flirtation by dispatching rude suggestive text messages to members of the opposite sex. 

Other results gleaned from the survey discovered that 48 percent of teenagers and 64 percent of young adults have received suggestive texts on their phones, while 22 percent of teens and 28 percent of young people admitted to being more open and assertive when communicating digitally as opposed to in real life.

Also, 73 percent of those polled acknowledged the potential risks associated with sending sexually themed content, while some 22 percent believed such practices were nothing to worry about.

One fairly common consequence of sending personally compromising content via phone often sees boyfriends and girlfriends sharing previously private images or video clips when and if the relationship comes to a close.

In terms of potential saturation, numbers put forth by information and media company Nielsen (Mobile) suggest that approximately 80 percent of teenagers and 93 percent of young people in the United States have a mobile phone – most of which now provide a built-in digital image and/or video camera as standard.

The study was also co-commissioned by Hearst Digital Media’s Web site CosmoGirl.com.

Around the Web