In another sign that sexting, at least in some places, is becoming disturbingly commonplace, a new study in Britain suggests that more than half of teens had received sexual images or videos from someone; four out of 10 of these adolescents had sent sexy photos or videos themselves to someone else.

The news gets worse: According to a study by Britain’s National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, about 20 percent of the teens polled said that if they did send sexy images, those embarrassing pics were later shared with complete strangers.

“It is almost becoming the norm that a young person in a relationship should share an explicit image of themselves,” says Peter Wanless, chief executive of the society. (The Telegraph)

Paul Asay has covered religion for The Washington Post, Christianity Today, Beliefnet.com and The (Colorado Springs) Gazette. He writes about culture for Plugged In and wrote the Batman book God on the Streets of Gotham (Tyndale). He lives in Colorado Springs with wife Wendy and his two children. Follow him on Twitter.