Sexting In Australia
November 1st, 2010 | by Mobile Data Group |Nude photo scandals have become the lifeblood of Hollywood, with celebrities of all ages falling into the ’sexting’ trap, but a growing number of Australian teens are breaking the law and risking social rejection by emulating them.
Experts say few teens appear to grasp that they can be charged under tough laws created for paedophiles - or branded as registered child sex offenders - just for sending or even possessing naked images of themselves or other under-age teens.
Only last week a Mackay teenager was spared prosecution for possessing a photo of a topless 15-year-old girl on his phone by a judge after he was charged with possessing child exploitation material.
A child education expert and former police officer Susan McLean, said parents and teachers are at a loss to explain the prevalence of sexting in schools, but she believes the bombardment of naked photos and videos associated with starlets like Kim Kardashian, Lara Bingle and Vanessa Hudgens may be partly to blame.
A YouTube campaign urging teens to “Think before sexting” was launched last month in Canberra telling the story of Megan, who sent images to her boyfriend, which were then passed around her classroom.
Home Affairs Minister Brendan O’Connor said it was one video he hoped teens would not keep to themselves.
“We want to make sure that it’s distributed as far and wide as possible, schools and others will be encouraged to use this video,” he said.
While there are no reliable statistics on the prevalence of sexting in Australia, a 2008 US study showed that around 39 per cent of teens had seen sexually suggestive text messages or emails that were originally meant for someone else.