‘It’s so commonplace that I doubt many [teenagers] would bat an eyelid,’ 16-year-old Amy said to the Telegraph. ‘If I asked around, I could probably get ten to 20 photos that have been sent around or put on Facebook in under an hour.’
A widespread phenomenon
Sending sexually explicit photos, messages or video clips – or, as it is called, sexting – via mobile phones or the Internet, is becoming increasingly common among British teenagers. According to Sherry Adhami, Director of Communications at the charity Beatbullying, sexting has become an ‘epidemic’:
‘‘We’re seeing it more and more – we’ve even seen it in primary schools. It’s 100 per cent classless; this affects children whether they’re in deprived or affluent areas.’
Back in 2009, when Beatbullying polled 2,000 children, the results showed that a third of children had received a
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