A Goochland ‘massive sexting ring‘ was broken up earlier this year, but maybe we shouldn’t flip out about it, according to findings from a new study.
A Goochland ‘massive sexting ring‘ was broken up earlier this year, but maybe we shouldn’t flip out about it, according to findings from a new study.
New research from the Journal of Pediatrics tracked the sexting habits of 16-year-olds compared with their real life (IRL?) sex habits and found it’s doesn’t impact other life choices one way or another. IE, sexing doesn’t mean you’re sexually active, but it doesn’t mean you aren’t either.
A unique part of this study was the span of time scientists used in their testing.
“Despite this growing body of knowledge,” researcher Dr. Jeff Temple, an associate professor and psychologist at University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, told PsychCentral.com. “All existing sexting research looks across samples of different groups of young people at one time, rather than following the same people over time.”
“Because of this, it’s unclear whether sexting comes before or after someone engages in sexual activity.”
The actual language from the study which “supports the notion that sexting fits within the context of adolescent sexual development and may be a viable indicator of adolescent sexual activity,” is kind of a no-brainer.
Teens, with access to camera phones and an endless supply of curiosity, are making debatable life choices.
It might make you think about how we handle teens who get caught sexting, a felony in VA if the subjects in the photos are under 18. It also comes with a life-long sex offender status.
Back in Goochland in April, a “massive sexting ring” involving 100 local teens was broken up by police after a parent stumbled upon an Instagram account. 1000’s of pictures of Louisa, Hanover, and Goochland teens were traded and spread around (by teens and adults) before ending up on this account.
Maybe these kids shouldn’t be so harshly punished?
But another study from 2011 suggests the punishment’s long-term damages might be a tool in combating under-aged sexting.
The study of 1560 youth between the ages of 10 and 17 had only 2.5% admitting to taking a nude photo, and that number drops to 1% if you specify the selfies as ‘sexually explicit.’
“The rate of youth exposure to sexting highlights a need to provide them with information about legal consequences of sexting and advice about what to do if they receive a sexting image,” reads the study’s conclusion.
At the same time, the research suggests sexting in general is “far from being a normative behavior for youth.”
But maybe this info is a little dated – think of how many more kids have access to fancy phones these days?
Smart phone ownership grew rapidly since 2011, with the market now dominated by these pocket-camera-internet-dick-pic-machines.
Who knows how teens caught sexting will be handled in the future, and even if the science is right, are we okay with young folks trading naked pics hence forth? Will the early-in-life naked selfie become the new “I inhaled” when someone runs for political office?
There doesn’t seem to be any news about the Goochland teens busted a few months back. Calls to the local sheriff’s office have not been returned, but we’ll update this story when we get more details.
