Teen Online & Wireless Safety Survey: Cyberbullying, Sexting, and Parental Controls

On June 24, 2009, results were released from a survey by Cox Communications in partnership with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and John Walsh. Harris Interactive conducted the survey among U.S. teens ages 13 to 18. According to the survey

• One in 5 teens have engaged in sexting
• Over a third know of a friend who has sent or received a sext message
• One in 10 sexters has sent these messages to people he or she doesn't know
• Almost all teens surveyed think it's dangerous to sext, including those who engaged in it
• Half of teens think that adults overreact about sexting

Go to www.cox.com/takecharge to access the survey. Click here to download the entire survey in PDF.  

Sex and Tech: Results from a Survey of Teens and Young Adults

The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy and TRU also conducted a study about teens and sexting. According to this study of teens age 13-19,

• 71 percent of teen girls have sent or posted this content to a boyfriend or girlfriend
• 51 percent of teen girls say they do it because of pressure from a guy
• 66 percent of teen girls and 60 percent of teen boys do it to be "fun or flirtatious"
• 44 percent of teen girls and boys say they did it in response to content they received
• 44 percent of teen girls say it is common for these images to be shared with people not intended to see it
• 38 percent say that "exchanging sexually suggestive content makes dating or hooking up with others more likely"
• 29 percent of teens say that exchanging explicit content makes them feel "expected" to date or hook up

Please visit www.TheNationalCampaign.org/sextech to access this study. Click here to download the entire study in PDF.