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AKRON(OH)BEACON-JOURNAL Forget about passing notes in study hall; some teens are now using their cell phones to flirt and send nude pictures of themselves. The instant text, picture and video messages have become part of some teens' courtship behavior, police and school officials said. The messages often spread quickly and sometimes find their way to public Web sites. "I've seen everything from your basic striptease to sexual acts being performed," said Reynoldsburg police Detective Brian Marvin, a member of the FBI Cyber Crime Task Force of Central Ohio. "You name it, they will do it at their home under this perceived anonymity." Westerville Central High School senior Jerome Ray said he's received such unsolicited messages, including one from a classmate while he was sitting with his girlfriend. "A lot more girls are aggressive," said Ray, 18. "Some girls are crazy and they are putting themselves out there." Candice Kelsey, a teacher from California, said some teenage girls think they have to be provocative to get boys' attention. As a result, they will send photos they hope their parents never see. "This happens a lot," said Kelsey, author of Generation MySpace: Helping Your Teen Survive Online Adolescence. "It crosses every racial socio-economic group. Christian kids are doing it. Jewish kids are doing it." Male teens are also doing it. For instance, a central Ohio high school teen made a sexual cell phone video of himself and sent it to female classmates. One of the girls forward the Westerville South High School's video to at least 30 other people. A study last year found teens are placing more of an emphasis on image and fame than in the past. Jean Twenge, a psychology professor at San Diego State University who studies young people's trends, found that teens are more confident and assertive than ever before. "Adolescents are not known for thinking things through _ that's a generational constant," she said. "Now, with the technology that is out there, instead of taking a picture and passing it around the classroom, it's online, which is a whole different ball game. (Teens) don't see it that way." Mark Raiff, a principal at Columbus' Olentangy Liberty High School, said some of his students and their cell phones have caused trouble. "They don't see anything wrong with it," he said. "It leaves me speechless."
COLUMBUS(OH)DISPATCH COLUMBUS, OHIO The 17-year-old was taking a nap when his cell phone buzzed. A video message had just arrived. A girl's naked body flashed on the screen, her fingers fondling herself. The surprised boy snapped shut his phone. Seconds later, it buzzed again. "Am I better than your girlfriend?" a familiar voice asked. The boy immediately hung up. Experts and high-school students both say that teens -- particularly girls -- are increasingly using naked pictures, raunchy messages and promises of no-strings-attached sex to get attention or nab a boy. In this case, the Groveport Madison High School boy says, a classmate has littered his cell phone with sexually graphic messages, offering everything from oral to anal sex, for months. "I used to go out with her during the summer and I just upped and stopped talking to her," said the teen, who didn't want his name printed because he feared punishment from his parents and retribution from the girl and her family. "She's trying to get back together." Many teenage girls have learned that the way to get male attention is to push the envelope with photos, said Candice Kelsey, author of Generation MySpace: Helping Your Teen Survive Online Adolescence. "This happens a lot," said Kelsey, who teaches at a private high school in Santa Monica, Calif. "It crosses every racial socioeconomic group. Christian kids are doing it. Jewish kids are doing it." High-school administrators and police throughout central Ohio report similar stories about the consequences of this kind of display: Photos sent as part of a private conversation quickly spread. Sometimes, boys share nude pictures of their ex-girlfriends after relationships sour. Unsolicited photos can make the rounds more quickly. For example, a Westerville South High School teen sent girls a cell-phone video of himself touching his penis, hoping they would respond with an equally explicit display. One girl sent a video of her own, but the rest forwarded the boy's message. At least 30 other students received a copy. Because the exchanges often take place on cell phones or through private pages on social networking Web sites such as MySpace, police or school administrators frequently don't learn about them. But they are everywhere, said Reynoldsburg police detective Brian Marvin, who also is a member of the FBI Cyber Crime Task Force of Central Ohio. "I've seen everything from your basic striptease to sexual acts being performed" online, he said. "You name it, they will do it at their home under this perceived anonymity." While the videos and pictures start out as an intimate exchange between two people, they can become part of a sexual predator's collection once they are posted on the Web, Marvin said. Under Ohio law, adults who send pornographic material to someone younger than 18 can be charged with disseminating matter harmful to juveniles, a misdemeanor. And those who seek sex with a minor through telecommunications can be charged with importuning, a felony. Columbus police detective Lolita Perryman has gotten calls from parents whose teens sent inappropriate pictures that are now being spread around. But she said she has never charged anyone for sending the material. Posing, posting and sending homemade explicit pictures is classic narcissistic behavior, said Jean Twenge, a psychology professor at San Diego State University and author of Generation Me: Why Today's Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled -- and More Miserable Than Ever Before. "Adolescents are not known for thinking things through -- that's a generational constant," she said. "Now, with the technology that is out there, instead of taking a picture and passing it around the classroom, it's online, which is a whole different ball game. (Teens) don't see it that way." Twenge helped lead a study last year that found narcissism at an all-time high among today's young people. That means they place a greater emphasis on image and fame, she said. "They don't see anything wrong with it," said Mark Raiff, principal at Olentangy Liberty High School, who has dealt with these situations. "It makes me speechless." Jerome Ray, 18, a senior at Westerville Central High School, said girls often send him text messages laced with sexual innuendo. Once, he even received a naked photo from a classmate when he was sitting next to his girlfriend. "A lot more girls are aggressive," Ray said. "Some girls are crazy, and they are putting themselves out there." But the photo and the text messages are not for him. Ray said he's devoted to his girlfriend. Photos and videos sent as part of a private conversation quickly spread, authorities say, and once online, they can become part of a sexual predator's collection.
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