Gumleaf
July 10th, 2008, 02:21 AM
12:00 AEST Thu Jul 10 2008
Teens are sending sexually explicit content to each other using mobile phones, leaving themselves open to bullying and humiliation, police and experts say.
Has "sexting" caused problems for you or your friends? Is it a common problem? Leave your thoughts below.
In a phenomenon dubbed "sexting", teens are sending each other raunchy text messages or explicit photos on mobile phones as a form of flirting and precursor to sexual activity.
But these messages are sometimes passed on to other members of a school community or posted on the internet, resulting in humiliation for those involved.
In a related problem, students have secretly filmed their friends having sex and sent the footage on to their classmates and peers.
Detective Sergeant Campbell Davis, of the Victoria Police internet child exploitation team, said his department was receiving an increasing number of calls related to these types of incidents.
"I think from the amount of phone calls that we would get on a weekly basis from other police and from school we can gauge that it's on the rise," Det-Sgt Campbell said.
"A lot of it's not reported. But it's something that we do come into contact with quite regularly."
Last year 32 Victorian teens were charged with child pornography offences after they were found to be in the possession of naked pictures of other teens.
"I think the police get involved most commonly when these kinds of images are circulated to other parties," Det-Sgt Campbell said.
"There are occasions where it's been reported to us that a boyfriend and girlfriend both under the age of 18 have been engaged in sexual activity and it's been recorded by a boy who is secreted away somewhere. That footage has then been forwarded to other people.
"We've also had some cases where teenage girls are sending sexually explicit photos of themselves to boyfriends with the understanding that it doesn't get forwarded on to other parties, but then perhaps that relationship breaks down and those images become public."
Neil Richardson, who worked as a deputy principal at a western Sydney school until last year, said he was aware of a number of cases where this had occurred.
In one case, a student left school after explicit photos of her were circulated.
The ready availability of technology allowing rapid dissemination of images was behind the increasing rate of "sexting"-related bullying, Mr Richardson said.
"Naturally it's on the rise because of the technology. It's just an extension of that," he said.
"Since back in the day kids have backstabbed each other but these days it gets put in the public domain."
Marilyn Campbell, a psychologist from the Queensland University of Technology, said teens were "digital natives" who didn't draw a line between their online and offline social lives.
Dr Campbell said there was nothing unusual in teens using new technologies to interact sexually.
"They have done that since the beginning of time. Sex is a huge motivator, especially when young people just discover it. Guys boast to their mates and girls boast to their friends," she said.
But teens shielded by the relative anonymity of the internet tended to bully others more frequently and more intensely, she said.
"They feel disconnected in some kind of way that they're not face to face, so they can feel bold."
Teens are sending sexually explicit content to each other using mobile phones, leaving themselves open to bullying and humiliation, police and experts say.
Has "sexting" caused problems for you or your friends? Is it a common problem? Leave your thoughts below.
In a phenomenon dubbed "sexting", teens are sending each other raunchy text messages or explicit photos on mobile phones as a form of flirting and precursor to sexual activity.
But these messages are sometimes passed on to other members of a school community or posted on the internet, resulting in humiliation for those involved.
In a related problem, students have secretly filmed their friends having sex and sent the footage on to their classmates and peers.
Detective Sergeant Campbell Davis, of the Victoria Police internet child exploitation team, said his department was receiving an increasing number of calls related to these types of incidents.
"I think from the amount of phone calls that we would get on a weekly basis from other police and from school we can gauge that it's on the rise," Det-Sgt Campbell said.
"A lot of it's not reported. But it's something that we do come into contact with quite regularly."
Last year 32 Victorian teens were charged with child pornography offences after they were found to be in the possession of naked pictures of other teens.
"I think the police get involved most commonly when these kinds of images are circulated to other parties," Det-Sgt Campbell said.
"There are occasions where it's been reported to us that a boyfriend and girlfriend both under the age of 18 have been engaged in sexual activity and it's been recorded by a boy who is secreted away somewhere. That footage has then been forwarded to other people.
"We've also had some cases where teenage girls are sending sexually explicit photos of themselves to boyfriends with the understanding that it doesn't get forwarded on to other parties, but then perhaps that relationship breaks down and those images become public."
Neil Richardson, who worked as a deputy principal at a western Sydney school until last year, said he was aware of a number of cases where this had occurred.
In one case, a student left school after explicit photos of her were circulated.
The ready availability of technology allowing rapid dissemination of images was behind the increasing rate of "sexting"-related bullying, Mr Richardson said.
"Naturally it's on the rise because of the technology. It's just an extension of that," he said.
"Since back in the day kids have backstabbed each other but these days it gets put in the public domain."
Marilyn Campbell, a psychologist from the Queensland University of Technology, said teens were "digital natives" who didn't draw a line between their online and offline social lives.
Dr Campbell said there was nothing unusual in teens using new technologies to interact sexually.
"They have done that since the beginning of time. Sex is a huge motivator, especially when young people just discover it. Guys boast to their mates and girls boast to their friends," she said.
But teens shielded by the relative anonymity of the internet tended to bully others more frequently and more intensely, she said.
"They feel disconnected in some kind of way that they're not face to face, so they can feel bold."