Teens may not admit to it, but youth counsellors say Singapore's young are not averse to sending or receiving nude or semi-naked pictures of themselves or their friends through their cellphones or e-mail.
Of the 50 teens aged between 13 and 19 polled by The Sunday Times, a quarter of those surveyed said that they have received nude pictures while 6 per cent said they have received sexually suggestive texts.
None would admit to having sent nude or partially clothed pictures of themselves or racy messages.
'I don't think it's wrong but I wouldn't do it myself. And what if it gets circulated or, worse, posted on the Internet?' said student Shahirah Khalid, 17.
By contrast, their American peers appear to be more liberal when it comes to 'tech-sexing it up'.
Results of a recent poll by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy in the United States showed that one in five teens has sent naked or semi-nude images of themselves to someone by e-mail or mobile phone.
Twice as many have sent sexually suggestive electronic messages.
Ms Sheena Jebal, founder of Nulife Care and Counselling Services, which provides youth with tuition services integrated with counselling, said she has seen an increasing number of students engaging in such activities, particularly girls.
One 15-year-old girl showed her a picture of herself posing with only her bra top and her school uniform skirt in the school toilet.
'The sad thing is, she just laughed it off,' said Ms Sheena, who counselled her after the girl's friends forwarded the picture to others from their cellphones.
Still, the girl did not think there was anything wrong with it.
'She said it's beautiful, and she asked me, 'Why do you have to look at it as a bra? Why not as a bikini top?' They are always able to find some kind of justification for their actions,' Ms Sheena said.
Suggestive SMSes are even more common.
'They'll say, 'What do you like to wear when you go to bed?', 'What will you do if I'm in bed with you now?' These are coming from girls as young as 13,' said Ms Sheena.
Counsellors put the trend down to a new, bold, even defiant attitude among the young.
'They've reached a point where there's no fear,' said Dr Carol Balhetchet, director of Singapore Children's Society's Youth Development Centre.
'There's this laissez-faire, can't-be-bothered attitude. It's not that they give it a second thought. There's no processing,' she said about teens sending sexy electronic content.
Reverend Sam Kuna, executive director of voluntary welfare organisation Teen Challenge, blames the prevalence of explicit language and sex in TV, movies and music for cultivating such sensibility.
What's more, with technology becoming more advanced and accessible, there is very little parents, teachers or counsellors can do to prevent private, racy content from being sent or received, said Reverend Kuna.
'There's really no choice. We just have to be there, educate them and have the right skills sets to work with people who get wounded in the process,' he said.
Girls, especially, sometimes see such actions as empowering, believing they display a sense of control. Sometimes, they do it to stake their claim on boys too, said Ms Sheena.
'The guys are sometimes victimised. The girls are making themselves available and then crying foul,' she said.
They may be breaking the law by circulating sexual images on their phones.
The Films Act spells out that it is illegal to make, distribute, show, import or possess any obscene video recording, whether it is made on a conventional camera or a mobile phone.
Youth workers caution that teens could find themselves easy targets should such private content land in the wrong hands, especially outside of their inner circle.
What would be more dangerous are Internet chatrooms where predators are known to lurk, they said.
Additional reporting by Zureena Habib
This article was first published in The Sunday Times on Dec 14, 2008.
