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 Posted: Tue Aug 25, 2009 11:28 pm
Taken from: http://www.sync-blog.com/sync/2009/08/sexting-how-bad-is-it.html/
Sexting (sex + texting) is when a person sends sexually explicit photos and messages to someone else via cell phone. Some people view sexting as harmless flirting while others view it as child pornography.
The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy and CosmoGirl.com recently conducted a survey asking teens if they are sending or posting sexually suggestive messages. The results?
- 39% of all teens
- 37% of teen girls
- 40% of teen boys
- 48% of teens say they have received such messages
The complete results can be viewed here. [click the article link at the top to go to the original link, where the complete results will be linked within the article.]
The Dangers of Sexting
Last year, Cynthia Logan’s 18 year old daughter, Jesse, committed suicide after being harassed about nude photos she had sent to her boyfriend. After Jesse broke up with her boyfriend, he sent the images to her school peers. The embarrassment and harassment eventually led to Jesse taking her own life.
A lot of kids don’t realize the consequences of texting nude or partly nude photos. They might think the pictures and messages they send will remain private between themselves and the intended recipient or not understand that once something has been sent off into cyber space, it’s out there permanently and can come back to haunt them years down the road. Additionally, if the sext message falls into the wrong hands, it can expose the teen to online sexual predators.
The Other Side to Sexting
Some will argue that sexting is simply a modernized twist to playing spin-the-bottle or doctor. Peter Cumming, an associate professor at York University in Toronto, argues that “such online activities are safer than traditional sexual games because there is no immediate physical contact and thus are less likely to lead to pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases.”
Sexting – Are You Concerned?
Once you understand what sexting it, the dangers seem quite obvious. The other side of the coin says that sexting is just a modern way of sexual exploration and is safer since there is no physical contact, which means no STD’s or unwanted teen pregnancies. What do you think?
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Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2009 7:05 am
I realize the dangers of sexting and the consequences it presents,
but I don't believe it applies to everyone (in every country).
While I was living in France, sexting was a common thing - it was a norm.
A lot of people I knew did it - and not just people in school, but people at the FAC (university-level) and a few even who were in their 30s as well (as odd as that is to imagine)... Then again, they /are/ a little more open about their bodies and sexuality, so I guess it differs from North America.
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Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2009 9:57 am
I think the act itself is completely harmless. It's a way to share your body with people who are far away or who you don't want to get seriously involved with.
I have never shared nude pictures through a phone, but I have shared many pictures over the internet. If people show my pictures to other people, meh, so be it.
I don't like the fact that the article tries to use one girl who killed herself to make sexting look dangerous. When people share nude pictures, they have to be ok with the fact that the pictures might be seen by more than just one person. Obviously the girl was not ready for that. That's not the fault of sexting though. That's her fault for not being educated and prepared for what she was doing. It would be like if a 13 year old had sex without being ready and got an STD. I certainly wouldn't blame it on sex and say that sex is bad or dangerous. I would just say sex is something people need to be educated about and prepared for and the 13 year old obviously wasn't. Can't blame that on anyone or anything other than her though.
Sharing nude pictures can present a problem when kids are involved. But again, that doesn't make the entire act of sending pictures a bad thing. It just means that in addition to being ready and prepared, both people involved (the sender and the receiver) should be adults. As I said, I've shared naked pictures many times. But I never shared them when I was underage. I don't think I started sending them until I was 21 years old.
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Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2009 6:31 pm
I do agree that the example of the suicide was perhaps a little too extreme, but I think it was used to make a point. Not everyone who sexts is going to have bad things happen to them and/or react like that, but it's a minor possibility. One could say it's used as an example to show teens how serious that sending nude pictures of oneself can be, as Lorien said, because it seems many teens don't fully understand the potential consequences of sending out nude pictures and aren't fully prepared to deal with it if something goes wrong.
I don't have an issue with sexting, but the issue of underage teens sending around nude pics of themselves doesn't sit well with me, probably because I didn't and would never do something like that (at least not over a phone) when I was that age, and it bugs me when other kids do.
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