Young People & Sexting: Risks, Gifts, and Shame.

This paper explores sexting by young people discussing motivations, regulation, and outcomes both social and legal. It draws on an Australian based study of over 1000 young people and theorises this in the context of Marcel Mauss' work on the gift and the historically problematic nature of childhood sexuality. It also outlines the relationship of sexting to various frameworks of risk arguing that many studies of sexting are informed by a public health models of risk that often marginalise the voices of young people involved while emphasising the negative risk outcomes of the practice. The paper concludes by discussing the problematic gendered nature of much sexting while emphasising that many participants themselves highlight positive experiences.