Addressing Youth Sexting Through Rational Legislation and Education

Addressing Youth Sexting Through Rational Legislation and Education

Sexting is defined as “the sending or receiving of sexually explicit or sexually suggestive images or videos,” usually via mobile devices. Our research indicates that at least 14% of US middle and high school students report that they have sent explicit images to others, while about 23% have received these kinds of images from their peers. Likewise, a 2022 metaanalysis of 28 studies published between 2016 and 2020 found that 19% of youth reported having sent and 35% reported having received explicit content (some of these studies define sexting broadly to include images and text). In this issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health, Frøyland et al. found that about one-third of 15- to 19-year-olds originally sampled from 33 junior high schools in Norway indicated that they had shared sexual, undergarment-only, or nude photos or images in the past 12 months. Unfortunately, most laws in the United States do not reflect a nuanced understanding of the range of factors that are often involved in sexting behaviors among minors. In this paper, we argue for a more thoughtful legal and educational approach to teen sexting.

Patchin, J. W. & Hinduja, S. (2024). Addressing youth sexting through rational legislation and education. Journal of Adolescent Health, 75, 530-532.

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