What to think about "sexting"?

Camino PR excels at detecting social bias in messaging, and creating a roadmap to shift a biased framework. “Sexting” and “cyber bullying” has fast become the leading subject of interest for journalists reporting on teen life and culture and is a powerful example of social bias and messaging.  Consider that in 2008 there were just 42 mentions of “sexting” in the media, and since then there have been well over 5,000 mentions including every major media outlet, reaching an audience of tens of millions.

A handful of tragic teen suicides have dominated the media coverage about sexting and teen cyber bullying.   Almost every news article or commentary about the subject delves into the legal implications, the tragic outcomes, and the cautionary advice to parents about safeguarding children from the dangers of the Internet.   Most articles turn to law enforcement experts for perspective.

What’s missing?  The voice of sexual health and social justice advocates.

This void is puzzling, given that virtually every story on the subject involves an adolescent who was subject to homophobic or sexist slurs.  Among the cases that become news headlines, the teens are called “faggot”, “whore”, and “slut”.  In some cases a derogatory ethnic reference is added, such as “Irish whore” or “Mexican whore”.

Bullying openly appalls plenty of advocates.  But the voice of those outraged by the level of homophobia and sexism in school is muted at best.  In fact, some media outlets make only vague references to “horrific” or “terrible” slurs, but avoid printing that the foundation for the bullying was homophobic slurs.

Despite the “prevention” mantra of those who are worried about pregnancy and sexually transmitted infection among teens, there is minimal discussion about “prevention” related to sexual harassment, homophobia, and sexual stigma.  In fact, research has shown that one of the most powerful strategies for reducing risky sexual activity among teens is to promote positive gender roles and challenge the very bias and stigma that is unearthed in these “sexting” stories.

The sexting stories are framed as a technology or bullying problem, with advice to parents about managing teens and technology.  Dozens of school districts and states are now engaged in creating new laws and policies about sexting, with a focus on punishment.  Often when social issues get strongly framed, the underlying issues become muted.  Reporters begin to naturally shape their stories around a preconceived idea of what voices are relevant and what advice is legitimate.

Shifting a message framework requires new perspectives to be brought to journalists from trusted messengers.