The "sexting" or sending nude pictures via text message

The "sexting" is the act of sharing nude or partially nude photos (provocative or explicit pictures) via cell phone text message. The teenager are flirting by sending nude or semi-nude photos from cell phone to cell phone. "If a boy meets a girl or has a girlfriend on summer break he comes back and shows all his boys the [naked] pictures he's been sent. No one gives it that much thought really," says a young boy. What teens don't realize is just how serious the consequences can be.

Inside the Minds of Teens Who Post Sexual Images of Themselves

USA.- (by Justin Grant - ABC News) Despite specific warnings from prosecutors, the 15-year-old Ohio girl who was arrested last week and accused of sending nude pictures of herself to classmates probably doubted that she could ultimately be forced to register as a sex offender under state law, psychologists and Internet experts say.

More than likely, they suggest, she was only after a sliver of notoriety, the product of a culture where pornography has gone mainstream and fame can be had in an instant by simply distributing a sexually explicit video with a cell phone or on the Internet.
"They think they're going to get attention -- that it makes them stars of their own reality show," Internet privacy and piracy lawyer Parry Aftab said of the growing number of U.S. teenagers who publish sexual images of themselves online.
"They don't understand the consequences," said Aftab, an ABC News consultant. "They don't think about where that video is going to go, or how long it's going to be on the Internet and the 50-year-old who is going to be drooling over it."

If convicted, the girl, whose identity has not been released, could face a sentence of anywhere from probation to several years in a juvenile detention center. The high school student in Newark, Ohio, denies the charges; authorities are also considering charges for the students who received her photos, which are considered child pornography under law.
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There are other examples. Earlier this year, an Ohio boy reportedly made a sexual cell phone video of himself and sent it to female classmates, one of whom then forwarded the video to at least 30 other people. Similar incidents have been reported in Wyoming, New York and Pennsylvania.
"They don't understand the global nature and extent of the Internet, and how easy it is once you posted something, even if you think it's private, could become public very quickly," said John Grohol, a psychologist and publisher of PsychCentral.com.
Such incidents are a symptom of a culture where sexual imagery like the infamous photo of Britney Spears' exposed crotch or Vanity Fair's seminude photos of 15-year-old "Hannah Montana" star Miley Cyrus have become the norm, said Jean Kilbourne, author of "So Sexy, So Soon: The New Sexualized Childhood and What Parents Can Do to Protect Their Kids."

Teens Engage in Sexting

USA.- (by Lesley Tanner - CBS Springfield) A funny picture or a flirty message on your phone may seem innocent enough, but what is your teen really saying when they send a text.
"Teenagers are having sex by the phone, sending flirty messages, meeting up to have sex," says 16 year old Rochellie Garcia.
"On the one hand it can be kind of fun to get an erotic message over your email or on the phone," says Certified Sex Therapist Joyce Joseph. "But on the other hand none of that is really safe or private."
It's known to teens as sexting, and though it doesn't always lead to a physical act, Joseph says it can confuse teenagers emotionally.
"They're experimenting with sex but they aren't integrated in a holistic way that would be better for their self-esteem if they really understood what love was," says Joseph.
Teens who text may not have the chance to discuss those feelings with an adult, because one of the appeals of sexting is the ability to hide the behavior from parents.
"I don't wanna talk on the phone that much, because my mom will ask me questions," says a teenage boy. "So I just text people."
"It's your phone, it's your own private business," says 16 year old Mackenzie Hamblin. "So if you want to do that stuff go ahead."
Privacy may be part of the appeal, but what many teens don't realize is how easily the message or pictures they send can be forwarded to dozens of unwanted recipients.
"All you gotta do is take it and send it out, thinking it's funny," says Garcia. "But the boys you're sending it to can take it and put it on MySpace or put it somewhere where everyone can see it."
Last week former American Idol hopeful Colin Leahy made national news when he was arrested for sending sexually explicit text messages to a 12 year old boy. A situation Joseph says teens need to be aware of, and prepared to report.
"If you've asked them to stop and they don't stop, and or the message is offensive to you, then you need to immediately act and block that number," says Joseph.
And as technology continues to change the ways teens can communicate, Joseph says parents need to monitor who their teens are talking to, and more importantly what they are talking about.
"It's really important that parents sit down and talk to their teenagers and help them to develop the emotional and intimacy skills," says Joseph. "So that when and if they are ready to be sexual that they are much more balanced."