When I think about my teenage romances, I can’t help but groan. I can’t imagine how I would’ve handled today’s wild west of social media! It seems like a fun, exciting place where rules are difficult to enforce. But as we all know, it’s also full of hidden dangers.
Sexting is a relatively low-effort way to express your sexuality. With a subtle camera angle and clever lighting, you can send a sexy pic with little effort. And if you prefer the written word, you can express your deepest thoughts and feelings in ways you wouldn’t have had the courage to do IRL.
But when you combine youthful naivete about the internet with a desire to push boundaries, things can get dangerous. As spicy and fun as sexting can be, it’s also full of unknowns. These 11 stats and facts emphasize the bright and dark sides of sexting.
1. About 96% of Surveyed Adults Support Sexting
Ninety-six percent of adults1 surveyed in an online poll by Drexel University endorsed sexting, as reported by the Los Angeles Times.

In an increasingly online world, this sky-high stat makes sense. Depending on who you ask, sexting is an easy way to express your sexuality. It comes in handy when you’re away from your partner but still want to show intimacy.
2. About 73% of Parents Say Sexting is Harmful
It’s interesting how research from the NSPCC (as compiled by a Cyberstudy from Youthworks) found that 73% of surveyed parents2 believed that sexting was harmful. Instead of supporting sexting like other adults, these parents can’t help but remember the potential harm it can do to their children.
It’s important to keep a clear head when you’re sexting. Do you really trust the person receiving your explicit thoughts or photos?
3. Over 20% of Teens Feel Upset by Sexts They Sent
Kids these days are born with smartphones in their hands, so naturally, they think they know how to use them. One-quarter of the teens3 surveyed by the National Library of Medicine discovered just how dangerous phones can be when their sexting experiences turned sour.
In the NLM study, 21% of teens reported feeling upset, embarrassed, or afraid after texting out sexually explicit images of themselves.
4. Another 25% Said They Were Upset By Sexts Received
The recipients of these messages were just as disturbed, if not more so; 25% reported feeling upset about the sexually explicit images in their inboxes. Perhaps the best advice we can give is to think twice (and then a third time) about sending explicit images or messages over text. Do you really trust who they’re going to? The sad truth is, no one ever knows for sure if their private photos will stay private.
5. Survey Finds 1 in 4 Teens Have Sent a Nude Photo
Everyone else’s child is sending nude photos to people over text, but not yours! You’ve explained how their most private images can end up in the hands of a major creep. You are totally and completely sure that your child isn’t off sending explicit pics to their new online crush as we speak…

I’d bet that the parents of the teens who participated in a 2014 study in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine thought the same thing.
A staggering 1 in 4 teens4 admitted to having sent a nude photo of themselves over text. Not only is this dangerous, it’s illegal in some states, according to a 2019 article by the American Academy of Pediatrics.
This 2014 study is over a decade old now, and we can only hope that teens have become more discerning about what they’re sending to “friends” over text.
6. Nearly 20% of Teens Sexted to Get a Reaction
A Cybersurvey by Youthworks shed light on why teens click “send” on explicit images of themselves. The most common reason came from the 38% of people who are in a committed relationship and simply wanted to spice things up.
Twenty-seven percent of people surveyed said they sent the pics simply because they liked how they looked that day. And 19% of people had more debatable motivations.
They told Youthworks they simply wanted to see how the other person would react to receiving nude photos. This seems risky to me, least of all because the other person isn’t totally consenting to the images. You’re also putting your photos into the hands of someone who may reject them, or worse, send them to other people.
7. Half of Teens Are Uncomfortable Discussing Sex
If you avoid talking about sex with your kids, they’re going to learn about it from far less discerning places: friends at school or the internet, for example.

But according to a surprising Planned Parenthood survey, teens may be even more embarrassed talking about sex than parents.
The survey found that 50% of surveyed teens5 are uncomfortable talking about sexual topics (including sexting) with their parents.
8. Study Reveals 19% of Parents Won’t Talk About Sexting
Meanwhile only 19% of parents felt the same way. Go parents! After all, do you really want your child’s introduction to sex to be an unsolicited nude or graphic sext?
The dangers of sexting often remain hidden until it’s too late. To avoid this with your own child, don’t be one of the 19% of parents surveyed by Planned Parenthood who won’t talk to their kids about the existence of sexting.
9. Millennials Sext Nearly Twice as Much as Gen Zers
Sexting feels like a young person’s game, mainly because Gen Z seems to have an inherent grasp on modern technology. So when I learned that Statista found that a majority of sexters are millennials, not Gen Z, I was still surprised. Apparently, 37% of surveyed millennials6 reported sexting in 2023.
10. Only 20% of Gen Zers Said They Are Sexting
Maybe I’ve been looking at Gen Z’s technological prowess all wrong. Instead of taking sex online, it’s possible that Gen Zers understand the power and danger of sexting more than other generations. Maybe their grasp of social media makes them more careful online.
Only 20% of surveyed Gen Zers reported sexting. Of course, a mature, committed relationship lends itself to trust, so a millennial couple might trust one another with their most private texts and photos more than a youthful Gen Z fling would.
11. Almost Half of Women (49%) Say Sexting Is Cheating
Does sexting count as cheating? Some people believe that no physical contact means no cheating occurred, but others aren’t so sure.

As our lives seep into the internet, it gets more difficult to separate our personal relationships from the online world. With all this in mind, is it any surprise that almost half of the women surveyed by Slater & Gordon law firm, as reported by Vice, take sexting seriously?
Forty-nine percent of women7 said that sexting with someone who isn’t your partner counts as cheating. Honestly, I can understand why. There may not be any physical contact, but there’s usually an element of trust involved in sexting. Maybe sexting is a form of emotional infidelity. Or maybe it’s simply a precursor to in-person infidelity. Either way, it gives me pause.
12. Sexting Increased by 32% from 2019 to 2023
Statista found that 44.9% of surveyed adults sent a sext in 2019, and that this number leapt to 57.1% in 2020. Gee, I wonder what happened between 2019 and 2020 that made people prefer sexting over in-person physical contact? At the height of the coronavirus pandemic, virtual caresses were as intimate as long-distance lovers could get. Sexting became a means of authentic emotional connection instead of silly, sexy fun.
The number of people who admitted to sexting only increased as the years passed, from 63% in 2021 to 68.3% in 2022. Even post-COVID, sexting has only grown in popularity.
The number leapt again in 2023 when 76.9% of those surveyed said they had sexted. Did the pandemic change the way we express intimacy forever? Or is sexting simply a persistent trend? It’ll be interesting to see how this trend develops over the next few years.
13. At 78%, Reciprocal Sexting Is a Bit More Common Than Casual Sexts (63%)
Do you sext it and forget it, or is your relationship to sexting more serious?

Ask any woman with a social media account, and chances are she’s opened her inbox to a, well, unsolicited image of a graphic nature. Do men think we’re dying to see badly-lit photos of their genitalia? Or do they simply think it’s funny to send us a gross pic we didn’t want and/or ask for? What we do know is that 78% of surveyed people8 prefer reciprocal sexting over casual sexting, according to the National Library of Medicine. Instead of the “sext it and forget it” motto, these people actually use sexting as a means of connection.
Sexting seems to be most welcome when it goes both ways and is between two consenting people. Who’d have thought that something is more fun when both people are into it?
14. Except Among Teens, Receiving (27%) Is More Common Than Sending Sexts (15%)
The number of teens who sext seems to fluctuate depending on the group. And despite the fact that younger people are adept with technology, their penchant for sexting may be exaggerated in the media. Jama Pediatrics found that only 15% of teens admit to sending sexts9.
Unsurprisingly, more people are on the receiving end of a sext than the other way around, according to the same study. Twenty-seven percent of teens reportedly received a sext. It’s hard to say whether these sexts were unsolicited or welcomed, but it’s probably safe to assume that some of the sexts were unsolicited.
If this happens to you, it’s important that you delete the message and block the sender. You can even report the sender if they sexted you via a social media site.
15. More Than 1 in 10 Teens Have Sexted Without Consent
It’s every teen’s nightmare: You finally pluck up the courage to send a naughty pic of yourself to your boyfriend, thinking that he’s going to cherish it. But at school the next day, you see your boyfriend showing the picture to his friends.

Not only are they looking at an extremely private pic of you that was meant for your boyfriend’s eyes only, but they’re sending it to other people, too.
This nightmare has come true for far too many teens.
Jama Pediatrics found that more than 1 in 10 teens have shared sexts without the consent of the sender. Distributing explicit photos of underage kids on the internet is child pornography, point blank period. It’s a scary statistic that makes us wonder why people share explicit photos of themselves in the first place.
Sexting Is Great When Everyone’s On Board
The stats are clear: Sexting can be a fun, intimate way to add some excitement to your day, especially when you’re sexting with someone who is equally excited about it. But for teens and for people who don’t consent, sexting isn’t fun so much as it is uncomfortable — and at times, illegal.
Before you send out that risky text or revealing photo, ask yourself: Do I really trust the person I’m sending this to?
Sources & Further Reading:
1. https://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-sexting-sexual-satisfaction-20150807-story.html
2. https://www.childnet.com/blog/majority-of-parents-have-not-discussed-sexting-with-their-children
3. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6650829/#B8-ijerph-16-02364
4. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30988023/
5. https://www.plannedparenthood.org/about-us/newsroom/press-releases/half-all-teens-feel-uncomfortable-talking-their-parents-about-sex-while-only-19-percent-parents
6. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1375794/us-adults-sexting-by-generation/
7. https://www.vice.com/en/article/does-sexting-count-as-cheating/
8. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6757024/
9. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2673719