Sexting prevalent among young adults

The issue of sexting amongst teens and young adults has been around for several years now and is continuing to gain notoriety.

"Sexting is the slang term for the use of a cell phone or other similar electronic device to distribute pictures or video of sexually explicit images," according to the Teen Health section of about.com.

Talk shows and news reports have reported on the issue as it has become more of a hot topic in recent years. The statistics on who is participating are somewhat revealing.

According to a 2008 survey of 1,280 teenagers and young adults of both sexes sponsored by The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, "20% of teens (13-19) and 33% of young adults (20-26) had sent nude or semi-nude photographs of themselves electronically."

The pastime of sexting extends to Texas A&M University-Commerce as well.

"I have never sent them because I'm not that kind of girl, but a few guys have sent them to me and I have to tell them to stop," freshman Carol Lambe said.

In addition to the growing number of teens and young adults who are participating, there are also a rising number of arrests and convictions for obscenity or possession of child pornography among youth and adult alike.

In Fort Wayne, Indiana, a teenage boy was indicted on felony obscenity charges for sending a photo of his genitals to several female classmates.

At least one student disagrees with the practice of charging kids as sex offenders for sending sexts to one another.

"There is a fundamental difference between kids sending sexts to other kids and adults sending them," freshman Andrew Smith said. "I believe the same laws that apply to statutory rape should apply [with regard to sexting], where as long as there is not more than a two-year difference between them, they should not be charged."

In another case, an assistant principal found a student in possession of a photo depicting a teenage girl wearing only under garments and covering her bare breasts with her hands and confiscated the phone. He then transferred the photo to his own phone, on the order of the head principal, and was later charged with possession of child pornography.

Being found guilty of this crime is not only costly and ruinous to reputations, but also requires the perpetrator to register as a sex offender.

Because of the way Americans view the term "sex offender", the accused are often painted with the same brush as those that molest children or rape women, which is seldom the case.

Although teens and young adults have often been prone to mischievous and sometimes promiscuous activities, parents of many students do not pay attention to the cell phone text message records to look for this type of behavior.

"My parents never did check my phone for these types of messages or anything," freshman Tabrea Bowers said. "I really don't know why, but she [her mom] never looked."