Poll finds 'sexting' more common than previously thought

A poll conducted by MTV and the Associated Press found that the incidence of 'sexting' is more common than has previously been considered.

"Sexting," the practice of taking nude or partially nude digital photographs of yourself and texting them to an intimate friend, is considerably more common than had been previously thought - according to a new poll released by MTV and the Associated Press. More than 25 percent of young people - defined at an age range of 14-24 - have been involved in some manner in a "sexting" event. The poll found that young adults were more likely to engage in "sexting," with roughly 33 percent saying they had been involved. Incidents involving "sexting" have led to digital bullying, after the explicit photographs enter broader circulation. A recent case in Florida spiraled into a teen suicide - when photographs of a 13-year-old girl were circulated among her classmates. “I’m done for sure now. I can feel it in my stomach. I’m going to try and strangle myself. I hope it works,” the teen wrote in her journal. The next day, her mother found her hanging from a scarf. “It was as if she was standing right there in front of me,” her mother told NBC News. “Her head was hanging down. I said, ‘Hope, what are you doing?’ And then I realized there was a scarf around her neck.” The AP-MTV poll was conducted using online interviews with 1,247 teenagers and adults ages 14-24. It has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 2.8 percentage points.