2:57 AM
One of the teenage boys I spoke to described the online humiliation of a young friend.
'It can really backfire on you, that sort of stuff,' he told me. 'Recently, a friend of mine broke up with her boyfriend. The boy was very upset and, as a result, sent a video of her to all her friends.
'Obviously she's very upset about this. I think that this sort of thing happens very often nowadays.'
In the U.S., teenagers filming themselves having sex or posing provocatively are considered to be a legitimate target for prosecution by the authorities.
Dr Samuel McQuade, from the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York, is one the leading world experts on internet safety. He is alarmed by the rapid rise in what he calls 'peer pseudo-pornography'.
'In Connecticut last autumn, a decision was made to prosecute a 12-year-old girl for allegedly having taken pictures of herself without clothes on and sending them to boys of a similar age,' says Dr McQuade.
'And this is not an isolated case. In the U.S., there have been other children who have been prosecuted. And empirical data suggests that hundreds, perhaps thousands, and maybe even more, are getting involved in this.
'Children, who are not educated about the implications of this type of behaviour, are slipping into these kinds of activities. They are egged on by their friends.'
'It can really backfire on you, that sort of stuff,' he told me. 'Recently, a friend of mine broke up with her boyfriend. The boy was very upset and, as a result, sent a video of her to all her friends.
'Obviously she's very upset about this. I think that this sort of thing happens very often nowadays.'
In the U.S., teenagers filming themselves having sex or posing provocatively are considered to be a legitimate target for prosecution by the authorities.
Dr Samuel McQuade, from the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York, is one the leading world experts on internet safety. He is alarmed by the rapid rise in what he calls 'peer pseudo-pornography'.
'In Connecticut last autumn, a decision was made to prosecute a 12-year-old girl for allegedly having taken pictures of herself without clothes on and sending them to boys of a similar age,' says Dr McQuade.
'And this is not an isolated case. In the U.S., there have been other children who have been prosecuted. And empirical data suggests that hundreds, perhaps thousands, and maybe even more, are getting involved in this.
'Children, who are not educated about the implications of this type of behaviour, are slipping into these kinds of activities. They are egged on by their friends.'
