Let's Talk About Sexting, Baby

Poll of the Day: Very small percentage of teens do the "sext."

New research suggests that sexting, the practice of sending nude or provocative photos via cellphone, isn't nearly as prevalent among teens as some trumped-up media reports would have you believe. A study of teens' sexting habits found that just 2.5 per cent of American kids aged 10 to 17 have sent someone lewd photos of themselves, while just less than six per cent of respondents said they had received such a photo. That rate is a bit lower than the likelihood of a starting NFL quarterback sending lewd photos (32 teams, 32 starting quarterbacks, one sexter = 3.3 per centish), and just a bit higher than the rate for U.S. congresspeople. Of course, there is the likelihood that these reported numbers are somewhat lower than they really are, as the answers were self-reported, meaning some respondents could have very well "sexted" but didn't want to share that info with a random researcher. Regardless, given the frothing responses to sexting that arose from the professional parent-worrying industry (also known as latter-day broadcast news) a few years ago, these findings are an appreciated dose of sanity for a realm – teenage sexuality – that rarely receives any.