For my readers who are in the Salem, Mass. area: I am helping to organize a talk on the topic of Teenagers and Sexting, to be presented by Dr. Jessica Ringrose (Institute of Education, London) at Salem State University on September 20. It is free and open to the public.

How do young people experience the sending and receiving of sexually explicit content through mobile, digital technologies? At this presentation, Dr. Ringrose shares the findings of her study on “sexting” with 35 teens from two inner city London schools. She reports that among boys, collecting explicit images of girls served as a way to secure status among peers. In contrast, most girls experienced “sexting” with these boys as a site of potential risk, blame, and hatred around sexual reputation (e.g., being called a slut). Join Dr. Ringrose for a provocative discussion of how digital technology mediates school life, including gendered and sexualized peer hierarchies, popularity, intimacy, sexualized bullying, and harassment.

More details available at Teenagers and Sexting: Thursday, Sept. 20 at 12 p.m..