Do you know what it is? On a recent report on KPTV-12 here in Portland, Oregon it was reported that approximately thirty percent of all teens are actively involved in it. Over fifty percent of all teens have done it. Am I talking about harmless fun? Am I talking about something that would make parents proud of their teens? I am talking about Sexting. Yes Sexting. That is sending nude or partial nude pictures of yourself by text message over your cell phone to other teens. They give no thought to how years from now those pictures could come back to haunt them. They don’t know they are putting pictures out there that could get into the hands of pedophiles. They often don’t know they may be breaking the law.
According to another report on Msn.com a 15 year-old Pennsylvania girl is facing pornography charges for sending nude pictures of herself to other kids. Read the entire somewhat frightening article here http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29613192/ One of the stories in the article mentions a tragic story of a beautiful 18 year-old young woman that committed suicide after her boyfriend sent nude picture of her to other kids. One of the questions asked in the MSNBC.com post is whether we should be treating Sexting as a criminal problem or a social problem.
This just makes me shudder beyond belief. Parents be aware. Be very aware. This is one of those cases, in my humble opinion, where the teens right to privacy takes a backseat to the parents right to know what is going on with their kids. Parents check the cell phones. Go do it right now.
From my teen years I remember toilet papering, cow tipping, and that famous lighted bag of dog stuff on a door step. I don’t remember even thinking about sending any pictures to anyone let alone nude pictures. But we didn’t have cell phones then. Progress without responsibility can be dangerous.
What is your take on this new practice? Harmless fun or is danger lurking as soon as the pictures are sent? What were your teen years like? Were things better then, than they are now? What advise would you give parents about Sexting? Is this one of those cases where the parents right to know trumps the teens right to privacy? Is Sexting a criminal problem or a social problem?
May today bring you only happy calls and pictures that you can be proud of over your cell phone.
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4 comments:
Harmless fun? Danger lurking? Some of both? I don't know. Offhand, I'd say that teens can be really stupid sometimes. My own kid was so unlikely to do anything like that that I have no idea what I'd do. Probably take her camera phone away, tell her she'd done something truly dumb, and maybe try to get the photo back, not that that would be a guarantee of anything. There's a very fine line between respecting privacy and keeping an eye on a teen. When and where to cross it depends on the teen (and where in the teens s/he is), the parent-child relationship in general, maybe some other things I can't think of. I'm glad I didn't have to deal with this, and I sure wouldn't know how to advise anyone who's facing it.
Hi Pat
Teens sometimes as do adults sometime do stupid things. However, I think the adults are more aware of the long term consequences of their actions then teens are.
I do think you are right that the parents know their kids the best and they are the ones to make the decisions as what to do. However, so often we here of a teen doing something where a parent is suprised that their child did that.
Bill
Bill, adults are much more aware of possible longtime consequences than teens. Teens and early 20s mostly think they are indestructible, and they take risks that an adult would shudder at. I did that myself, to a much more limited degree than what I'm hearing about today's teens, and I sometimes give a retrospective little shudder at some of the stuff I did when young.
But I survived, and most of these naked-on-the-Net teens will, too. Maybe by the time they're out there in the marketplace, it will seem a common thing to have done and of little consequence. I hope so for their sake(s).
Remember when it was death to a politician to admit s/he'd smoked pot in college? Not very long ago, but that seems to have become a yawn now.
Hi Pat
Excellent point about the drugs and politicians. I haadn't thought about that.
I did some things that I wasn't proud of but none of them were in my teen years, I was a late bloomer and saved my idiotic moves until the mid twenties to early thirties.
After reading your post me thinks I may be protesting to much.
Bill
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