Spotlight
To help promote an objective discussion of sexting and to develop strategies to minimize its dangers and harm, CCRC has reviewed approximately 550 sexting cases that came to law enforcement attention in 2008 and 2009 to develop an evidence‐based typology. The aim of the typology is to show the diversity of sexting incidents and to organize them in a way that helps law enforcement, school officials, parents and others confronted with sexting incidents to differentiate among and assess such cases.
A new study from the Crimes against Children Research Center finds declines in two kinds of youth Internet sexual encounters of great concern to parents: unwanted sexual solicitations and unwanted exposure to pornography. The researchers suspect that greater public awareness may have been, in part, what has helped.
Welcome to the Crimes Against Children Research Center
Newly Released - Two Studies:
Prevalence of Sexting and
How Often Are Teens Arrested for Sexting
Two new studies from the Crimes against Children Research Center suggest that concerns about teen sexting may be overblown. One study found the percentage of youth who send nude pictures of themselves that would qualify as child pornography is very low. The other found that when teen sexting images do come to police attention, few youth are being arrested or treated like sex offenders.
In the prevalence study, CCRC researchers surveyed 1,560 Internet users ages 10 through 17 about their experiences with sexting -- appearing in, creating, or receiving sexual images or videos via cell phone or the Internet. The study found that 2.5 percent of youth surveyed have participated in sexting in the past year, but only 1 percent involved images that potentially violate child pornography laws -- images that showed “naked breasts, genitals or bottoms.”
In the arrests study, researchers discovered that in most sexting cases investigated by the police, no juvenile arrest occurred. There was an arrest in 36 percent of the cases where there were aggravating activities by youth, such as using the images to blackmail or harass other youth. In cases without aggravating elements, the arrest rate was 18 percent
- Read the Pediatrics Sexting Arrests article
- Read the Pediatrics Sexting Prevalence article
- Read the press release
- Contact the Researchers
Related Content
International Family Violence and Child Victimization Research Conference
Sheraton Harborside Hotel and Conference Center
Portsmouth, New Hampshire
July 8th - July 10th, 2012
The Internet, Youth Safety and the Problem of “Juvenoia”
This paper marshals evidence that the Internet has NOT been a “deviance amplifying” technology for young people, in spite of popular concerns in this regard. It discusses, a phenomenon labeled “Juvenoia” – exaggerated anxiety about the impact of technological change on the young – and suggests reasons why it may be such a common response to social change in the modern world.
ONGOING YOUTH INTERNET SAFETY SURVEY
Please visit us here for more information about our ongoing Third Youth Internet Safety Survey (YISS3), a national telephone survey of families about children's experiences using the computer and the Internet.
