More Research on 'Sexting' From the NSPCC

The NSPCC has published a follow up study on 'sexting' following on from their May 2012 study:  A qualitative study of children, young people and 'sexting'

The researchers conducted 12 focus groups with 120 young people, aged 13 to 14 years, across three counties in England. An additional 30 children aged 10-11, from two different counties in England, were also questioned.

The research findings were:

* there was widespread knowledge of sexting amongst 13-14 year olds. Although not everyone was engaged in sexting, many had peers that were


* 13-14 year old girls tended to self-generate as a result of a request from a boy, whilst boys tended to self-generate unprompted

* many 13-14 year olds reported that the fear of being judged would prevent them from talking to an adult if something went wrong

* most 10-11 year olds had to deal with some form of online abuse, but there was little evidence that they were exposed to sexualised content, or asked to self-generate.   The full report is available to download for free here:

Sexting: an exploration of practices, attitudes and influences (PDF, 172KB)