POLICY STATEMENT ON SEXTING
THE NATIONAL CENTER FOR MISSING & EXPLOITED
CHILDREN
SEPTEMBER 21, 2009
"SEXTING"
Communities, parents, guardians, school administrators, law enforcement,
and policymakers have recently become concerned about an
activity known as "sexting." The National Center for Missing & Exploited
Children (NCMEC) shares this concern. Sexting is a term intended
to define a specific type of activity involving youth, sexually
explicit photos or text, and electronic devices that take and transmit
photos. The media has reported instances where children have been
charged with a violation of child pornography laws for self-producing
and/or distributing these photos.
WHAT IS SEXTING?
Sexting is a term coined by the media that generally refers to youth
writing sexually explicit messages, taking sexually explicit photos of
themselves or others in their peer group, and transmitting those photos
and/or messages to their peers.
WHAT IS NOT SEXTING?
While there is no legal definition of sexting, it is important to note
that most people’s understanding of sexting generally does not include
situations in which young people send sexually explicit images of themselves
to adults. This distinction becomes more difficult based upon the age
difference between the two parties. For example, when one of the
parties is the 18-year-old boyfriend of a 16-year-old girl, is this sexting
or more serious criminal behavior? In addition, sexting is not
the appropriate term to describe youth sending sexually explicit images
of themselves to others as a result of blackmail, duress, coercion or
enticement.
HOW ARE YOUTH TAKING AND SENDING THESE SEXUALLY EXPLICIT PHOTOS?
Youth can use various technological tools including cell phones, computers,
web cams, digital cameras, and/or certain video game systems to take
and distribute sexually explicit photographs of themselves or others
in their peer group.
HOW MANY YOUTH ARE SEXTING?
A 2008 online survey of 653 teens between the ages of 13-19 conducted
by TRU and presented by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned
Pregnancy and CosmoGirl.com found that 20% of teens surveyed have posted
nude or seminude pictures of themselves online. In addition, 39% of teens
surveyed have sent or posted sexually suggestive messages (text, e-mail,
IM). For more information about the study, please visit http://www.thenationalcampaign.org/sextech/PDF/SexTech_Summary.pdf.
A 2009 survey conducted by Cox Communications found that 19% of teens
surveyed have sent, received, or forwarded sexually suggestive nude or
nearly nude photos through text message or e-mail. Of the teens surveyed
who had engaged in sexting, 60% sent the photos to a boyfriend/girlfriend
and 11% sent them to someone they did not know. For more information
about the study, please visit: http://www.harrisinteractive.com/NEWS/newsletters/clientnews/CoxCommunications_
NationalCenterMissing&ExploitedChildren_Cyber-Safety_May2009.pdf.
WHAT ARE SOME EXAMPLES OF SEXTING?
- A few middle school girls are at a slumber party and use
their cell phones to take and send topless photos of themselves
to their friends.
- A high school boy e-mails a nude photo of himself to a high school
girl he met on a social networking website.
WHAT ARE SOME EXAMPLES OF SEXTING THAT CLEARLY INDICATE ILLEGAL
CONDUCT?
- A high school boy sends a partially nude photo of himself to his
high school girlfriend. When they break up a few months later, she
forwards the photo to all of her friends.
- A high school junior tells a freshman girl that he will take her
to the prom if she sends him sexually explicit photos of herself. Because
she wants to attend the prom, she uses a digital camera to take partially
nude photos of herself and e-mails them to the boy.
WHAT IS AN EXAMPLE OF A SITUATION THAT IS NOT SEXTING
BUT CLEARLY INDICATES ILLEGAL CONDUCT?
- A 45-year-old man meets a high school girl on the Internet and encourages
her to send him nude photos of herself. She takes nude photos of herself
using a digital camera and e-mails them to the man. (In this scenario,
the girl is a victim of online enticement.)
CONSIDERATIONS:
Sexting is an extremely complex issue. As a result, it is very difficult
to provide guidance on how best to handle these situations. What
we have learned thus far is that there are four roles to every sexting
case: the person seen in the photo, the person who took the
photo, the distributor(s) of the photo, and the recipient(s) of
the photo. In some cases one person may assume more than one of these
roles (e.g., a child takes a sexually explicit picture of herself and
sends it to a classmate). In other situations, multiple people may take
on a single role (e.g., a child takes a sexually explicit picture of
himself and sends it to a classmate who then forwards the photo to the
entire high school senior class). It is important to consider the intentions
and motives of each of the parties in every situation.
NCMEC does not believe that a blanket policy of charging all youth with
juvenile or criminal violations will remedy the problem of sexting. Youth
sometimes engage in risky behavior. However, the combination of the Internet,
easy transmission of digital photos, and poor judgment can lead to serious
and unintended consequences -- including becoming the victim of enticement,
blackmail, harassment and exploitation by both adults and other youth.
Increased education about these consequences and law enforcement's use
of prosecutorial discretion will help prevent these situations. The primary
challenge is for prosecutors to determine at what point on a scale of
severity accountability should be assigned. A permanent record,
juvenile or criminal, for any sex-related charge can have serious lifetime
consequences for both the child/youth and parent, so considerable thought
should be given before any filing of juvenile or criminal charges.
The following factors should be considered in each sexting situation:
- Are there photos involved or only written messages about sexually
explicit conduct?
- If there are photos involved, do they violate state or federal
law, based on statutorily-prohibited types of sexual conduct?
- Are the photos self-produced?
- If the photos were self-produced, were they done so voluntarily,
under duress, or as the result of encouragement by a boyfriend/girlfriend/classmate/friend/online
acquaintance?
- What kind of pressure and/or duress did the boyfriend/girlfriend/classmate/friend/online
acquaintance exert?
- Was the distribution of the photos done with no malicious regard
or desire to harm another, or was it the result of malicious intent
by one or more senders?
- What are the ages of the youth depicted in the images and the
age of others involved in the production and/or distribution of the
photos, and are they close in age?
- Do the photos depict only the self-producer, or were there other
youth and/or adults depicted in prohibited activity?
- What was the intent behind the production of the photos, on a severity
scale ranging from a benign reason to supporting a separate and malicious
criminal purpose?
- At what point on this severity scale should accountability be assigned?
- Is the range of distribution of the photos so large and complex that
investigation and prosecution cannot be meaningful or practical?
- Will prosecution achieve a result which addresses the larger problem
of “sexting” adequately?
- What is the range of harm to the child depicted in the photos, the
recipients of the photos, and to the community?
- Is there an alternative, non-criminal, sanction that would discourage
the participants from sexting in the future and effectively educate
the children involved about the negative legal, social, and emotional
consequences of their actions?
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
If parents or guardians find that a sexually explicit image of their
child has been posted on a website, they should contact the website owner
to ask them to take the image down. Most websites have a means of contacting
the operator to “report abuse.”
Parents and guardians can contact their local Internet Crimes Against
Children Task Force for assistance. To find the highly-trained Task Force
in your area, please go to www.icactraining.org.
A critical component of any response to a sexting situation is Internet
safety education. Youth should complete an Internet safety program that
includes the risks and consequences of inappropriate behavior online
and the responsibility each user has to conduct himself or herself in
an appropriate manner.
NCMEC believes that parents and guardians should set rules which may
include taking the cell phone away at bedtime and monitoring the communication
on the child’s cell phone. If a parent finds that a child is not
willing to follow these rules or does not understand the possible consequences,
consider removing the picture-messaging and texting capabilities on the
phone through the cell phone provider or purchasing a cell phone that
does not have camera capabilities. New software programs are becoming
available to help parents and guardians monitor their child's cell phone
use. Some programs allow parents and guardians to monitor all calls to
and from the cell phone as well as text messages, e-mails, and picture
messages. Parents and guardians can log in to a website to view these
communications and also set up a preapproved list of numbers that can
be called from or can call into the phone. Also, cell phone providers
may have similar parental control options available. Please visit www.NetSmartz411.org to
get more tips for safer cell phone use.
NCMEC'S ROLE IN SEXTING SITUATIONS
As the operator of the congressionally-mandated reporting mechanism
for crimes against children on the Internet (www.cybertipline.com),
NCMEC is required by federal law to accept reports about apparent
child pornography and forward them to the appropriate law-enforcement
agency for investigation. NCMEC does not determine whether photos
are actual child pornography or a violation of any laws. If NCMEC
receives a report by the public or by an Internet service provider regarding
apparent child pornography, NCMEC must forward it to law enforcement
who will decide what action to take.
If a child reveals that an adult has been sending him or her explicit
messages or pictures or if the child has provided his or her own images
to an adult who asked for them, go to www.cybertipline.com or
call 1-800-THE-LOST to make a report or contact local law enforcement.
NCMEC analysts will forward the report to law enforcement for investigation.
If the child receives a sexually explicit image from an unknown sender,
we encourage you to make a report at www.cybertipline.com or
by calling 1-800-THE-LOST. Analysts will forward the report to law enforcement
for investigation.
NCMEC has information to help youth, parents, guardians, school officials,
law enforcement, and others understand sexting. Please
visit www.NetSmartz411.org for
more information. This is an opportunity for everyone concerned
about sexting to help spread awareness of this issue and educate youth
about ways to use technology more safely and responsibly. |
Privacy Policy
