HomeMy WebLinkAboutSexting on the rise among teens: U of C Study - Metro Calgary - 02/26/2018 - Metro Calgary - 02/26/20182/27/2018
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Sexting on the rise among teens: U of C Study
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Researcher says parents need to talk to talk to their kids about the risks of sending nude photos
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By: Brodie Fliharrias Metro, IPublished on Moirn IFelb 26 2018
A University of Calgary researcher has pulled together a collection of studies on sexting among
teens, and has found the practice is on the rise.
Sheri Madigan, assistant professor in psychology at the University of Calgary, said various
studies on the practice of sending nude photos via social media have shown varying rates
among youth, from 3 per cent up to 65 per cent
"That discrepancy makes it really confusing for parents and teachers (...) to find out how often its
really happening," she said.
Madigan pulled together 39 studies and came up with a statistical average. The analysis showed
that sexting is definitely on the rise between 2009 and 2016, that older youth are more likely to
sext and that it's most often happening on smartphones, rather than computers.
Overall, she found that one in seven teens is sending sexts, and that one in four is receiving
them.
She said surprisingly, there's no real difference between males and females when it comes to
how often they're sexting. But the similarities between the sexes end there.
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2/27/2018
Sexting on the rise among teens: U of C Study
"I don't think we can say their experience of sexting is similar," said Madigan. "We see that girls
are feeling that they're more pressured to sext, and sometimes they feel the consequences of
sexting more than boys."
Madigan said those consequences can include being treated more harshly by their peers, or
being labelled a prude for not sending them.
"For boys, they don't seem to really experience any fallout from sexting," she said.
"Some boys will see it more as a social status."
Madigan does believe that sexting can happen inside a healthy relationship, and that for younger
generations, there's less division between their real lives and digital lives.
She thinks parents need to have conversations with their teens early and often about the risks of
sexting.
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