10 posts and columns on sexting

Voices

Are "Sext" Messages a Teenage Felony or Folly?

in News on August 25, 2010 at 5:00 am PT

State lawmakers around the U.S. are struggling to decide if teenage “sexting”—the practice of sending nude or sexually suggestive photos by cellphone—is a serious crime, or juvenile folly run amok. About 20 states have enacted or proposed measures that deal with teenage sexters.

Voices

Anti-Sexting Campaigns Heat Up

in News on January 14, 2010 at 1:00 am PT

“Sexting,” the short–and sometimes annoying–term for “sexy texting” is getting a lot of negative attention these days as anti-sexting ad campaigns heat up online. The Ad Council has launched a series of Public Service Announcements promoting the slogan “Think before you post.” One depicts a teenage girl who keeps getting creepy comments from people who seem to know intimate things about her.

Voices

Sexting the Truth

in News on December 7, 2009 at 1:03 pm PT

Here is the latest comic from our Joy of Tech friends at Geek Culture, Nitrozac and Snaggy. Joy of Tech appears three times a week in the Voices section of this site. (Click on the image to see a bigger version.)

Voices

China Cracks Down on Sexting

in News on August 11, 2009 at 12:30 pm PT

China’s Henan province threatened cellphone users with jail time and fines if they send unwanted sexual or insulting text messages. Offenders face five days in detention or a 500 yuan ($73) fine for one such text, the state-run newspaper China Daily reported, while sending three or more erotic messages could land them 10 days plus the fine.

Craigslist Gives Its Red Light District the Times Square Treatment

in Media on May 13, 2009 at 9:32 am PT

The online classifieds Web site is shutting down its “Erotic Services” section under pressure from state and local officials from around the country. In its place, Craigslist will open an “adult” category. It promises to keep said area cleaner by having employees sweep it periodically for ads that are obviously soliciting prostitution, etc. It won’t keep Craigslist free of bad stuff, but it may make it harder to find.
times-square

Voices

A Town, Its Teens, and a Practice Called ‘Sexting’

in News on April 21, 2009 at 9:21 am PT

Let’s talk about sexting. As we’ve mentioned before, sexting is the practice of sending nude or semi-nude pictures of ones self or others via cell phone. It’s one thing, we suppose, if adults do it, but what’s got parents, students, school administrators, the ACLU and district attorneys riled up is that minors are getting into the act as well.

Voices

Behind Sexting Survey, Debate Over How to Poll Teens

in News on April 8, 2009 at 10:34 am PT

It seemed like more troubling evidence that kids these days engage in behavior they wouldn’t want to write home about. Researchers recently found that one in five teenagers have shared nude or seminude photos of themselves by cellphone or online. That statistic has become a fixture in articles about “sexting” and its social and legal implications. But that number may be inflated, because the same teenagers who have engaged in such behavior could be the ones most likely to say they have done so in an online poll.