The Facts about 'Sexting'

In 2009, The Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy and Cosmogirl.com partnered to conduct a survey asking teens and young adults their observations on the issue of 'sexting', or sharing flirtatious or sexually-charged content online. The link below takes you to a full listing of results from this survey.

Sex and Tech Survey

Important findings that parents and teachers should know:

How many young adults are sending or posting nude or semi-nude images of themselves?
33% of young adults overall
36% of young adult women
31% of young adult men

How many teens say they have sent/posted nude or semi-nude pictures or video of themselves?
20% of teens overall
22% of teen girls
18% of teen boys
11% of young teen girls (ages 13-16)

How many teens are sending or posting sexually suggestive messages through texting, chat, IM, etc?
39% of all teens
37% of teen girls
40% of teen boys
48% of teens say they have received such messages

71% of teen girls and 67% of teen guys who have sent
or posted sexually suggestive content say they have
sent/posted this content to a boyfriend/girlfriend.
21% of teen girls and 39% of teen boys say they have
sent this content to someone they wanted to date or
'hook up' with.

15% of teens who have sent or posted nude/semi-
nude images of themselves say they have done so to
someone they only knew online.

How common is it for teens to share sexy messages and images with other people?
44% of teens say it is common for sexually
suggestive texts to be shared with people other
than the intended recipient.
36% of teen girls and 39% of teen boys say it is com-
mon for nude or semi-nude photos to be shared
with people other than the intended recipient.

Does sending sexually suggestive text and images affect what
happens in real life?
38% of teens say exchanging sexually suggestive
content makes dating or hooking up with others
more likely.
29% of teens believe those exchanging sexually suggestive
content are “expected” to date or hook up.

75% of teens say sending sexually suggestive content
“can have serious negative consequences.”
yet, 39% of teens have sent or posted sexually suggestive
emails or text messages, and 20% of teens have posted nude
or semi-nude images of themselves.

38% of teen girls and 39% of teen boys say they have
received sexually suggestive texts or emails
originally meant for someone else.

Why do teens send or post sexually sugges-
tive content?
51% of teen girls say pressure from a guy is a reason
girls send sexy messages or images; only 18% of
teen boys cited pressure from female counterparts
as a reason.
23% of teen girls and 24% of teen boys say they were
pressured by friends to send or post sexual content.

Among teens who have sent sexually suggestive content:
66% of teen girls and 60% of teen boys say they did
it to be “fun or flirtatious”— their most common
reason for sending sexy content.
52% of teen girls did so as a “sexy present” for their
boyfriend.
44% of both teen girls and teen boys say they sent
sexually suggestive messages or images in response
to such content they received.
40% of teen girls said they sent sexually suggestive
messages or images as “a joke.”
34% of teen girls say they sent/posted sexually sug-
gestive content to “feel sexy.”
12% of teen girls felt “pressured” to send sexually
suggestive messages or images.*


*information compiled by www.radicalparenting.com