A PRIMER ON TEEN SEXTING

Abstract

Teen sexting (defined herein as the electronic transmission of sexually explicit pictures or messages from one adolescent to another) has received a great deal of media attention and recently an accumulating amount of empirical attention. News headlines and reports mostly warn the public of the dangers of teen sexting by citing criminal charges and extreme cases of psychological consequences.1 The reality of teen sexting is less ominous. Criminal cases are exceedingly rare and usually only occur when accompanied by aggravating circumstances such as when an adult sends or requests nude pictures from an adolescent, or when one adolescent uses the sexted picture to bully or extort another adolescent.2