Anti-Sexting Campaign Sexting … not as sexy as it seems April 16, 2010 Cara O’Brien, Karen Redmond, Sydney Oliver, Jordan McBride, Jenna Pitsenbarger

What is sexting ? Sending explicit messages, photos, and/or videos via cell phone. Known as a “high-tech way of flirting.” “latest teen trend”

History of Sexting Reported as early as 2005, however sexual liberation began in the 1960’s. This has become such a prominent issue due to the accessibility of the new technology. New technologies include cell phones with cameras, and social networking sites, such as Facebook.

Why is this a problem? Problems mainly occur when one or both of the individuals involved are under the age of 18. Law violations include the following: Possession/distribution of child pornography Exposing minors to lewd, obscene materials Consequences include: Lifetime label as a sex offender Up to 10 years in state prison, if tried as an adult

Previous Campaigns MTV MTV took action in 2009 to evaluate the effects sexting has had on teens. A Thin Line Documentary Celebrity involvement

Previous Campaigns Cynthia and Albert Logan lost a daughter to sext scandal Thatsnotcool.com takes a different approach to talk to teens px?Title=PRESSURE+PIC+PROBLEM Commonsensemedia.org to help parents James Lipton involvement with LG

Previous Studies Several studies have been conducted to determine how many teens and young adults do in fact sext. Results have found that : 20% of teens, ages 13-19, have sent nude or semi-nude pictures, and 33% of young adults aged have also sent nude or semi-nude pictures. 29% of teens have shared pictures online with someone they have never met. 50% of teens have shared the same picture with multiple people.

Audience Analysis Surveyed 50 people, between the ages of Participants were asked to complete the survey as if they were 13-17, and then complete it as their current age. 58.1% of yr. olds have sent or received a nude or semi- nude photo. 70% have been doing it since the age of % did it when they were younger, while 72% do it now. 40% were pressured by their peers to either send or forward a message.

Campaign Goals Educate teens and young adults on the dangers of sexting. Discourage the participation in sexting, even though some may feel pressured to do it. Get middle and high schools more involved.

Communication Plan Aim to use television advertisements and social networking sites, such as Facebook. Creation of a Facebook group called “Sexting … not as sexy as it seems.” Creation of a print ad that can be posted or distributed. Development of a brief video advertisement to discourage texting. Link

Communication Samples Aim to have these two communication samples distributed to our audience as a reminder to practice safe texting. Awareness bracelet Cell phone background application More school support

Awareness Bracelet

Phone Backgrounds

School Support Most schools do not feel that sexting is their problem, and it usually takes a student getting into trouble to motivate them to do something about it. We hope that the creation of this communication plan and the communication samples will give the schools something to work with.

Evaluation One of our main goals is to educate teens and young adults, as well as college students on the dangers of sexting. We want to educate teens and young adults about the laws & consequences associated with sexting. Over the next 5 years, we are going to try and develop an anti-sexting class into the middle and high schools nationwide. Another way to evaluate how effective our campaign is will be to determine how many teens and young adults have access to and support our awareness bracelets and phone backgrounds.