BEIJING, Dec. 16 (Xinhuanet) -- "Sexting," a phenomenon of texting explicit content, such as nude or almost nude photos to others, is becoming popular among American teens in recent years.

    Thirty percent of American teens aged 17 with cell phones have received explicit images on their phones, while 80 percent have sent them, according to media report citing a study report released Tuesday by the Pew Research Center.

    The report also shows 4 percent of American teens aged between 12 and 17 admit they have sent sexually suggestive nude or nearly nude images of themselves through cells to someone else. Another 15 percent said they have received such images.

    The study was conducted from June 26 to Sept. 24 with the participation of 800 teenagers. It is part of the research center's project which aims at finding the effect of the Internet on American life.

    Many of the teenagers believe sexting is "not a big deal." Romantic partners or potentially partners send their nude photos to each other, and there is little difference among gender. "Girls and boys are equally as likely to have sent a suggestive picture to another person," the study said.

    While the exchange of nude images mostly takes place among lovers or potential partners of the same age, these images are also forwarded to non-partners or people in different age groups. 

    "This girl sent pictures to her boyfriend," wrote one older high school boy. "Then they broke up and he sent them to his friend, who sent them to like everyone in my school. Then she was supposed to come to my school because she got kicked out of her school because it was a Catholic school … it ruined high school for her."

    Now that more and more teenagers in the U.S. own cell phones, sexting has a place to grow.

    According to Pew, as of 2009, 58 percent of 12-year-olds own a cell phone, up from only 18 percent in 2004 and 83 percent of 17-year-olds now have a cell phone, up from 64 percent in 2004.

    (Agencies)