DUTY OF CARE — One in seven eight-year-old girls with a smartphone has received sexually explicit texts, a study of millions of messages has found.
The report sampled more than 54 million text messages and over 1.5 million hours of children’s phone usage also found that nearly a quarter of children had been asked to send a naked photo of themselves, or had asked someone to send a naked photo to them by the age of 13.
Some 15.5 per cent of girls who own smartphones were exposed to sexually explicit messages by the age of eight, and by the age of 13, more than a third of children who own smartphones will be exposed to ‘sexting’.
Using AI technology, the US based study by Jiminy, an app which monitors children’s phone usage found that between the ages of 10 and 17, some 41.5 per cent of the sexual chat was not mutual.
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Jiminy CEO and Co-Founder, Tal Guttman said: “Parents need visibility in order to parent, as you can only teach right from wrong when you know what issues your children are struggling with.
“We hope that shedding light on the alarming frequency and nature of sexting will make parents better equipped to deal with this touchy topic.”
