Never Mind . . .

Remember a couple of years ago when everyone had their knickers in a twist about "sexting"--teenagers sending sexually explicit photos over the internet? A 2008 survey showing that 20% of teenagers were dropping their drawers online was front page news. A prosecutor in Tunkhannock, PA threatened to charge three teenage girls with spreading child pornography. The moral panic was on.

Readers Digest, May 2009

Photo by habrahamson

It took a while, but cooler heads may have prevailed. A new survey by sociologist Kimberly Mitchell of the University of New Hampshire and her colleagues, published in Pediatrics, now puts the true figure at 1.3%. That's the percentage of minors who claim to have sent a sexually explicit picture of themselves over the internet—that is, a picture showing naked breasts, buttocks or genitals. Another 5.9% reported having received such an image.

How did the earlier survey come up with the 20% figure? It's all in the fine print. First of all, they included sexy but non-nude photos, such as teenagers in bathing suits. Secondly, their sample was a group of young people who had previously volunteered to participate in internet research. The Mitchell group did a telephone survey using random digit dialing, which generates a more representative sample. Finally, they included 18 and 19-year-olds—adults—in their survey. Voila! 20%.

Mitchell reports that other surveys have produced inflated estimates by combining sexually explicit texts and pictures, labeling them both “sexting.”

The 2008 survey that generated all the headlines was sponsored by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy. Their website states that they favor sex education programs based on evidence rather than ideology. Unfortunately, they seem to have designed their study to produce “evidence” of a greater need for their services. I guess you could call it agenda-driven research.