Sexting and Covid-19: sending indecent images without spreading the virus?
With the outbreak of Covid-19 across the globe, we have seen restaurants, shops, offices, and schools closed to stop the spread of the highly contagious virus, severely limiting our outings and ability to see others. While underage sexting may not be talked about much during a worldwide pandemic, the lack of face to face interaction and reliance of school children on phones and social media to stay in touch while stuck at home does mean a rise in sexting could happen over the coming months.
With no clear time-frame for reopening schools, no strict homeschool curriculum to follow, and cancelled end of year exams, children will likely have significant amounts of free time without the ability to have any physical social interaction[1]. Given digital devices are really the only way to stay in touch with friends now, the potential for sexting rises as youths want to replicate physical sexual interactions with their peers, and can only rely on sending images and videos to experience this without risking exposure to the coronavirus. A 2018 study about teen sexting behaviors highlighted how new smartphone and mobile apps designed to help share (seemingly privately) images and videos amongst users ‘may have increased both awareness of and motivation for engaging in sexting.’[2] As boredom in confined or even quarantined households grows through the repetitive days, everyone will be looking for ways to have contact outside their immediate family or roommates. The connection developed through sharing images may help to alleviate the separation felt by teens forced to remain isolated from peers with social distancing, and the ease of access to these sharing apps and high percentage of youths with smartphones[3] may only serve to create a spike in underage sexting during the Covid-19 outbreak — this is not an entirely unexpected result of isolation from peers.
The likely rise in child sexting during this time does mean a few things, and could even result in more nefarious actions from individuals who act to groom young kids.
Firstly, the images and videos created and sent by underage children is classed as child sexual abuse material (CSAM), and therefore illegal. Building off of this, the boredom and desire to remain engaged with distant peers could potentially lead to images being forwarded on without consent, as recent studies have found that 12% of children have had their images sent on without their consent [4]. It is not unlikely for children and teens to make this choice or to be pressured from afar to share these images with multiple people, because in their minds what else is there to do during an extended period of isolation?
The consequences of sexting can have serious ramifications, not only through a legal channel, but also socially as bullying often occurs if nude images are leaked[5]. Secondly, children are regularly groomed by individuals or groups to send nude and indecent images, often through online means by people they have never met. Again, as time spent stuck away from school, peers, and activities grows, children may look to new ways to keep occupied on the internet, and find themselves being approached by paedophiles.
While we desperately hope the coronavirus situation can be managed quickly and safely to get everyone back to their normal routines, the period of isolation and social distancing is probably going to last.
Along with washing hands, social distancing, and remaining vigilant for any Corid-19 symptoms, making sure children are aware of the dangers of sexting is also important.
During a time kids may be inclined to try new things to alleviate boredom or keep some sexual contact with others point to a potential rise in sexting during quarantine, and while the pandemic will end, and image online stays forever.
[1] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/18/coronavirus-why-are-uk-schools-closing-and-what-does-it-mean-for-parents
[2] https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/article-abstract/2673719?redirect=true
[3] https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/11/why-kids-sext/380798/
[4]https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/12/well/family/teens-are-sexting-now-what.html
[5] https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/facebook/9199126/Sexting-a-new-teen-cyber-bullying-epidemic.html
