Because transferring and viewing sexually explicit material when the subject is a minor can be considered child pornography, there can be serious legal consequences. In studies on the subject, rates of minors who have sent sexual images range from 4 to 25 percent, depending on the age of the youths surveyed, the content of the messages and other factors. Youths often send messages without giving appropriate thought to the content of the images. It has become common practice among young people, as cell phones are being given to adolescents at ever younger ages. Sexting is the sending or forwarding of sexually explicit photographs or videos of the sender or someone known to the sender via cell phone.
