Teen Sexting Trends Advisory: Teen Sexting Now A Criminal Offense
Westport, CT (PRWEB) April 06, 2015 -- WebWatcher Parent Advisory: Teen Sexting now a Criminal Offense
Awareness Technologies, makers of WebWatcher - the leading parental control software for computers and smartphones, today is making parents aware of new developments in teen sexting laws. Many parents and teens are not aware that many states across the country now enforce legal action against minors who sext. At least seventeen (17) states have passed laws and many others are in the process. States without formalized sexting laws are deferring to their child pornography laws, which often have the most severe consequences. Punishment varies state by state but often includes jail time and being placed on a sex offender registry. Even if a teen receives a nude or indecent photo suggesting a sexual act involving another minor from one of their friends and then further distributes it, they can be prosecuted to the extent of a felonious crime.
Teen Sexting Trends
A recent study conducted by Drexel University in June, 2014 revealed that:
More than 50% percent of teens surveyed admitted to exchanging sexually explicit texts and images. Most of those teens had no idea that there are serious legal ramifications to teen sexting.
The Drexel study concluded that most teens don’t appear to have the knowledge or maturity to consider the serious life long consequences before sharing sexually explicit photos and or distributing the information.
According to DoSomething.org's "11 facts About Sexting" 17% of sexting teens admit to sharing sexts with others and 55% of those who share send it to multiple people. Most of these teens sharing sexts were not aware that there are legal consequences for distributing sexts from a minor.
What Parents Can Do
The alarming rise in the number of teens who sext makes it more critical than ever for parents to monitor their children’s online activity. More parents are using computer and mobile monitoring software as they realize awareness of teen cyber issues like sexting is more critical than ever. Companies like WebWatcher are helping parents stay on top of their teens’ online behavior across all mobile devices and PC’s. WebWatcher is the only service which offers a complete suite of monitoring software for all devices including iOS (iPhone and iPad), Android, PC and Mac. By staying aware of their teen’s online activity a parent can help prevent disastrous circumstances.
About WebWatcher
WebWatcher, the #1 rated Parental Monitoring Software by PC Magazine, offers a full family of computer and mobile monitoring software compatible with PC, Mac, iPhone/iPad, Android & BlackBerry All WebWatcher products install easily in 5 minutes or less and are 100% tamper proof. All recorded data is sent to a secure web-based interface which allows parents to monitor kids at their convenience from any Internet connected computer. WebWatcher also allows parents to monitor multiple devices (such as a PC and an iPhone) from the same user interface in order to get one unified view. WebWatcher is PCmag Editors’ Choice for Parental Monitoring Software.
Media Contact
Erika Miller
Director of Internet Safety
Awareness Technologies/WebWatcher
(203) 295-7970
emiller(at)awarenesstechnologies(dot)com
http://www.webwatcher.com
Erika Miller, Awareness Technologies, http://www.webwatcher.com, +1 (203) 295-7970, [email protected]
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