RI- Alarming number of teens

12-11-2008 Rhode Island:

1 in 5 admits to sending, posting nude photos

WPRI - A new survey reveals that nearly one in five teenagers has posted or sent explicit photos of themselves, either over the computer, or via their cell phone.

The study was conducted by The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy and CosmoGirl.com. Researchers questioned 1,280 teens and young adults. Twenty-two percent of the teenage girls surveyed admitted having sent or posted nude or semi-nude photos of themselves.

Even more disturbing, 11% of girls between ages 13 and 16 admitted doing the same. But the girls are not alone. 18% of teenage boys also admit sending or posting nude or semi-nude photos of themselves.

And those racy photos often end up going to more viewers than intended. About one-third of girls and a quarter of boys say they've seen nude photos of others that were originally meant to be private.

"It's as simple as right click, copy, paste, and someone owns that picture forever," says

Scituate Middle School principal Lawrence Filippelli, who educates Rhode Island middle and high school students about cyber safety. Filippelli tells us parents are often the last to know when their children are taking part in explicit activities, online.

"When you're dealing with online activity, or IM-ing activity, believe it or not the child will keep that information private and not tell an adult for anywhere from three to six months."

He's says the best way to keep your kids away from racy behavior, is to keep a close eye on what they're doing.

"Our message is always for the parents to be aware of what their kids are doing online, what they're texting to each other, and investigating that."

Rhode Island schools currently block students' access to social networking sites, like Facebook and MySpace. ..News Source.. by WPRI.com