Abstract
Reviewed by: Claire Meehan, Sociology, University of Auckland, New Zealand
Sexting and Young People is marketed primarily to policy makers, academics, educators, school administrators and students. Research has consistently shown that young people spend a significant amount of unsupervised time online (Livingstone & Smith, 2014; Ofcom, 2015). Teenagers increasingly incorporate digital communications into their lives in numerous ways. As mechanisms used for socialising, relaxing and possibly blogging about their daily lives, these new technologies enable young people to live their lives in new ways. This includes their romantic and sexual lives. “Sexting”, sending nearly-nude or nude images and videos via smartphones and social media, is a practice amongst young people. Sexting is an area of potential risk of psychological, social, and legal harm for the participants, both for the originators of the images and the recipients, not only as a direct consequence of sending images with no control over any subsequent distribution, but also because of the quasi–legal status of the practice, depending on the age of participants.
Sexting and Young People explores young people's practices and perceptions of sexting, and how sexting has been represented in, and responded to by, the media, education campaigns, and the law. It analyses the important broader socio-legal issues raised by sexting and the appropriateness of current responses.
Sexting and Young People includes 13 chapters organised into four sections. The first section, “Understanding Sexting by Young People” provides a comprehensive introduction to sexting and the conceptual frameworks governing the practice. Chapters one and two provide a thorough overview to sexting and young people, situating sexting within contemporary debates around young people’s online sexual practices, technology, social media, and childhood. An important section within chapter two, sexting as gendered practice, addresses the problematising of young female sexting, interrogating notions of desire juxtaposed with coercion. Section two, “Young People and Sexting Discourses”, draws upon current research and media reporting, as well as legal, policy, and educational responses to sexting. The book’s focus on Australia and New Zealand makes it a vital resource, particularly in New Zealand, where research in this area is scant.
Chapters four and five consider legal and policy responses to sexting both nationally and internationally. Sexting, while not in and of itself a crime, might have very significant and lasting consequences for young people. For example, sexting and sharing compromising pictures among friends could get a young person arrested and put on the Sex Offenders Register for child pornography offences, if the image is of a person under 18 years of age. Crofts and Lee (2013) warn “there is the danger that children may become collateral damage – more seriously harmed by the very laws designed to protect them” (p. 106). Chapter six follows this with educational responses to sexting, evaluating current campaigns and identifying the predominant voices and discourses in these programmes.
Section three, “Sexting: Young People’s Voices”, contains the empirical data collected and analysed by the authors. Chapters eight, nine, and ten discuss sexting prevalence amongst participants, motivations to sext, and gender relations, as well as young people’s knowledge and understanding of sexting responses. The authors’ mixed-methods approach provides the reader with a comprehensive overview of young people’s attitudes towards, and the consequences of, sexting. These findings highlight the importance of understanding the broader context of online interactions when considering sexting.
Section four, “Futures and New Directions”, draws together the main themes by critiquing existing responses to sexting from a young person’s perspective, and suggesting alternative education and policy responses. Important ideas include alternatives to treating sexting as child pornography offences; calling for sexting-specific offences to be considered to cover non-consensual sexting; and education/ethics. While legal and educative strategies struggle to keep up with technological change, the authors’ research provides clear guidelines for future attempts at developing regulations and legislation.
This book captured my interest and enhanced my knowledge of sexting amongst young people. The authors’ key points make clear that a clear distinction exists between consensual “sexts” and non-consensual “sexts”; note that sexting is usually consensual, with very few partners –only a small number of people send images to numerous people; argue that there needs to be less emphasis on blaming young women and more consideration of those who distribute intimate images to others; andidentify a need to attend to the criminalisation of sexting among young people and the risk in continuing with the practice of sexting. I now use this book for my research and graduate teaching. It is well written and well presented with good linkages between chapters, which provide a clear and coherent interrogation of the issue. In addition, the appendix and notes sections were a useful and welcome addition to a comprehensive text.