Yesterday the Kansas City Star ran a fascinating story about parental fear about children ‘sexting’ each other beyond the watchful eyes of their mothers and father.
But what is ‘sexting,’ you ask?
One in five kids have used their cell phone to send sexy or nude photos of themselves, according to an online poll by Teenage Research Unlimited (TRU), a trend analyst firm in Chicago. The poll surveyed 1,200 kids online. The kids had signed up as volunteers to take TRU surveys. The study was sponsored by CosmoGirl! magazine and the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy.
The results became national news and adults dubbed it “sexting.” Newspaper and television headlines asked worried parents, “Is your teen sexting?” No one asked: “Is this a real trend or adults just totally freaked out?”
Don’t worry, a sociologist clears all of this up…
Adults may just be nervous, according to the results of an academic study. The Digital Youth Report was the result of a three-year project in which 28 researchers studied new media and teens. The researchers interviewed 800 kids and young adults in person. They also observed more than 5,000 hours of online activity.
Sociologist CJ Pascoe and her research assistant interviewed 80 kids for the project and said sexting was not a major issue. “No one brought it up,” said Pascoe, an assistant sociology professor at Colorado College. “I had them go through their last 10 messages, their last 10 photos and I never saw it.”
Sexting was not a common enough practice to make it into the report. Instead, Pascoe suggested that adults have fears about teens and the Internet. “I think what makes adults nervous about new media is they have a window into a teenager’s world for the first time, ” Pascoe said. “Teen culture has been around since the 1950s and teens have been pushing the boundaries since the 1950s but adults haven’t seen it.”
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