Sexting is the latest trend found among the American young generation. According to the experts this can be often risky and harmful.
Providing another strong evidence about the new trend and its negative side, a new study says, a significant number of high school students in the country regularly engage in sexting and sharing sexually explicit texts or images. Adding another unpleasant but dangerous point, the study also found these youngsters at greater risk of engaging in sexual activities, particularly unprotected.
For examining the latest trends of sexting among youngsters, Eric Rice from University of Sothern California in Los Angeles and colleagues looked at 1,839 students in Los Angeles high schools, who were part of a study conducted by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), earlier.
Majority of the participants were Latinos, aged between 12 and 18. Almost all of the children who owned a cell phone (15 percent) agreed sexting or knowing someone who sexted.
The study also found peers influencing to start a habit of sexting and teens who sext at higher chances of becoming sexually active and engage in unprotected sex.
"No one's actually going to get a sexually transmitted disease because they're sexting," said Rice, a social network researcher, who led the new study, reported Reuters Health. "What we really wanted to know is, is there a link between sexting and taking risks with your body? And the answer is a pretty resounding 'yes.'"
Findings of the study have been published in Pediatrics.
This is not the first study to point out the negative impact of sexting among the youngsters. A study published in the journal Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine found that children, particularly girls who sent naked photos at higher risk of engaging in risky sex, having more than one sex partners or consuming alcohol and drugs before sex.
