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Study finds over 25% of teens sext

By Charlene S.

Published: Jul 05, 2012, 12:02 PM

We’ve all heard it on our local news, stories about sexting becoming the latest unhealthy and sometimes dangerous trend that is taking our nation’s teens by storm. Many concerned parents have probably wondered how prevalent this behavior actually is.

A recent study was conducted among 948 high school students, aged 14 to 19, in seven different public schools throughout southeast Texas. The results of the study are based completely off of self-reported behaviors.

Of those 948 students, approximately 28% said they have “sent a naked picture of themselves,” while 57% of those surveyed said they have been asked to send a naked picture of themselves and they were “bothered” by the request.

Even though the occurrence of this behavior seems to be happening at an alarming rate, the study found that most teens still do not find it acceptable.

“On the contrary, we found that teens are generally bothered by being asked to send a naked picture. In fact, nearly all girls were bothered by having been asked. Even among boys, more than half were bothered at least a little by having been asked,” the research states.

The study did find that age seems to be a factor. Adolescents aged 16 and 17 engaged in sexting much more than younger teens. The research also found that the behavior suddenly dropped off at age 18.

Finally, a strong correlation was found between sexting and other behaviors such as dating, sex, and risky sexual behaviors, such as having multiple sex partners and using substances before sex.

source: Mashable

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Charlene S. is a former tech news writer at PhoneArena. Her content contribution focused on deep software coverage. She was active between 2011 and 2012, producing a ton of news stories on various topics, as well as going hands-on with the Galaxy Note 2.