Around the country, law enforcement officials and educators are struggling with how to confront minors who \u201csext,\u201d\u009d an imprecise term that refers to sending sexual photos, videos or texts from one cellphone to another.<\/p>\n
But adults face a hard truth. For teenagers, who have ready access to technology and are growing up in a culture that celebrates body flaunting, sexting is laughably easy, unremarkable and even compelling: the primary reason teenagers sext is to look cool and sexy to someone they find attractive.<\/p>\n
Indeed, the photos can confer cachet.
\u201cHaving a naked picture of your significant other on your cellphone is an advertisement that you\u2019re sexually active to a degree that gives you status,\u201d\u009d said Rick Peters, a senior deputy prosecuting attorney for Thurston County, which includes Lacey. \u201cIt\u2019s an electronic hickey.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n