Nearly 80 percent of college students have received suggestive texts, and two-thirds have sent them. The rest attend Brigham Young.
Kidding. But the numbers are real. A sexting study by University of Rhode Island faculty says that 56 percent have received sexually suggestive images; 78 percent had received sexually suggestive messages; and two-thirds had sent them. Researchers surveyed 204 students. Science Daily writes that while 73 percent of the messages were sent to a relationship partner, “10 percent were sent without consent of the person who originally sent the message.”
The story also addresses Rhode Island new law outlawing sexting by minors and technology’s impact on student’s health and personal lives but that “without consent” thing really resonated, probably because just afterwards we read about Joseph Bernard Campbell of Largo, Fla. He agreed to plead guilty to federal charges after hacking the computer accounts of 19 women, finding nude or semi-nude photographs of them and and putting them up as the women’s Facebook profile pictures.
I will wait here while you go check your Facebook page.
Tampa Bay Online says Campbell hacked hundreds of accounts and knew many of the victims from, surprise, high school. He emailed the victims saying they’d received a greeting card and telling them to type in their email addresses and passwords.
It’s sad that your private, adult-to-adult, consensual messages could end up public property, but until some study finds a cure for assholism, don’t give out your passwords and … if it’s possible … practice safe sexts.