Password-Sharing Tempting For Teens

(EndPlay Staff Reports) - Today’s teenagers are faced with a new temptation besides drugs, alcohol and sex. An article in the New York Times finds adolescents are now experiencing pressure to share passwords with one another.

The author of “Queen Bees and Wannabes,” Rosalind Wiseman, who also studies how teenagers use technology, explained the draw for sharing passwords as a forbidden feeling—much like sex.

“The response is the same: if we’re in a relationship, you have to give me anything,” Wiseman said, referencing the connection of the pressures of sex to the pressure of divulging a password.

Sharing passwords can lead to trouble, experts say.

Sam Biddle from Gizmodo recently wrote a column about the trend and told the Times, “I’ve known plenty of couples who have shared passwords, and not a single one has not regretted it. It’s the kind of symbolism that always goes awry.”

And Kashmir Hill from Forbes wrote, “In other words, kids (and adults), just say no to password sharing! Love means never having to say you’re sorry that you went back and read all of the emails that your significant other exchanged with their ex.”

Parents are worried, too, when it comes to their children sharing passwords with friends, boyfriends and girlfriends.

Patti Cole, a child psychologist and mother to a 16-year-old daughter, believes that the appeal of sharing passwords isn’t going to subside anytime soon.

“What worries me is we haven’t done a very good job at stopping kids from having sex. So I’m not real confident about how much we can change this behavior,” Cole told the Times.

So just how many teens are a part of this new craze?

The Pew Internet and American Life Project conducted a telephone survey and found that 30 percent of teens ages 12 to 17 share passwords with one another.

Girls were more likely than boys to give away their passwords, and older teens shared their passwords more often than younger teens.