The mobile phone = bike shed? Children, sex and mobile phones

Abstract

This article explores children's use of mobile phones in relation to their intimate, sexual relationships and in their development of gendered sexual identities in their everyday lives. Implications of risk and mobile phones are reflected in current media discourse and contemporary public discussions. While the concept of risk remains at the centre of current sociological debate, children have only recently been seen as active social actors within social science. Based on the accounts of 30 young people aged between 11 and 17, the article adopts a social constructivist perspective to explore the relationship between young people's talk of sexuality and sexual acts in their discussions of mobile phone use, within the wider theoretical debates about risk and self-identity.

A qualitative meta-synthesis of young peoples' experiences of ‘sexting’

“…Bond (2011) warns of potential dangers related to sexting images; although shared in a relationship (private), when the context changes, images may be shared (by boy) with others. This exposes the unequal power relationship between genders where the boy is able to make the private public without permission, redress or blame.…”

“…Bond (2011) suggests that sexts are embedded with signs by the writer and the reader in light of particular contexts, experiences or wishes (Brewis 2005;Bond 2011). As a social process, sexting is also concerned with projecting a social identity, and is read by others, as an indicator of social popularity (Bond 2011). Ringrose et al (2013) suggest that "negotiating images contributes to a peer hierarchy where boys and girls stake out positions in the popularity ratings" (Ringrose et al 2013, p313).…”

“…The literature often describes how this is entered into by young people as a means of attracting the attention of a potential partner, a means of flirtation or a way of testing out sexual propositions and experimentation (Ringrose et al 2013). Some have argued that sexting is another manifestation of gender and heterosexual power -perpetuating myths and stereotypes around sexuality (Bond 2011). It is also suggested that sexting can damage self-esteem and body image -especially among young females (Walker et al 2013;Lippman & Campbell, this practice into their lives and also the impact this has on them.…”

Investigating the domestication of convergent mobile media and mobile internet by children and teens: preliminary issues and empirical findings on opportunities and risks

“…We need to understand whether the immediacy with which children can distribute and share UGC, for example related to sexting (Bond 2011) and cyberbullying by means of their mobiles, leads to them acting without first reflecting on the negative consequences of their actions.…”

Predicting the Socio‐Technical Future (and Other Myths)

“…Who would have predicted that SMS would turn out to be used as a de facto means to keep in touch, to gift friendship, to dump boyfriends, to send intimate images, to organise protest or to look busy (Rheingold, 2002, Ling, 2004? Or that Bluetooth mesaging would be used to gift pornography, to send threats, to project sexualities, and to hide identities (Bond, 2007)?…”