Sexting: More dangerous than high school students think
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February 23, 2010 • written by Laura Carroll
Filed under News, Student Life
It’s nothing, right? You innocently send a nude picture to your boyfriend expecting nothing to happen. Then you break up—and the whole school sees the picture on Facebook the next day.
Most people know about sexting, defined as the distribution of sexually explicit images or messages through cell phones, by now. Thanks to shows like Degrassi and celebrities like Vanessa Hudgens, many know of the high probability of having these pictures seen by other people. Many become involved in sexting unwillingly, when they are sent pictures without asking.
Senior JP Phifer does not solicit these messages but receives them often.
“I don’t ask for them,” he said. “I guess they [girls] send them to impress me.”
Yet the implications of sexting are a lot harsher than just having yourself exposed for the world to see. What seems like silly flirting can actually lead to child pornography charges, prison sentences, and registration as a sex offender. If you take actually take the picture, you could be charged with double offenses of creating and distributing child pornography, even if the picture is of yourself.
This fact has brought much controversy to news today. For one thing, teen sexting is looked down upon. However, many adults feel that the laws established to prevent criminals from owning kiddie porn should not apply to the kids these laws are trying to protect. Some feel that it is punishment enough to have these pictures visible to others.
Many parents have employed the use of new cell phone technology made by Taser, the company that makes stun guns of the same name. The company has launched an application called “Mobile Protector” that allows parents to read every text or picture message on their child’s phone before it is even sent. They can listen to conversations, block certain numbers, and even prevent a person from calling to begin with. This is an extreme example of overprotective parenting to many individuals, yet others feel that is needed to prevent children from sexting.
The sexting issue rages on at East.
“It’s nasty,” said senior Yanice Arocho. “It’s for people who can’t get a girl.”
Other students sext often and enjoy the exclusivity that sexting provides.
One junior in the IB program, who asked to remain anonymous, said, “It’s just teenagers. People do a lot worse; it’s really no big deal.”
“I sext as much as possible and I’ve never been caught before. It’s ridiculous,” said a male junior in IB.
Senior Zasha Machado has a bone to pick with sexters. She feels that girls are often pressured by friends or boyfriends to send racy pictures of themselves to others.
“[My friend] went on for a month about me sending a picture. I thought it would be a good thing. Later on I felt like it was blackmail; he can use it against me,” Machado said of her own experience.
Sexting can be used as a form of cyber bullying, meaning that people “bully” one another for these pictures and in turn use the pictures against them. A junior, who also asked to remain anonymous, had a similar experience to Zasha.
“He wouldn’t shut up; he pressured me about [sending a picture] for a really long time,” she said, speaking of a friend.
Misuse of cell phone technology has been the focus of debate for many years. Should we send children to jail for sexting? Should parents monitor children’s phones like hawks? Is sexting really that harmless?
These questions can only be answered by the questioners themselves. As for Machado, she urges girls to think before they press the send button.
“It’s not the right way to go,” she said. “You think that it will make you feel good, but it stays in their phone until they decide to delete it.”
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well i feel like this is a serious topic because if teens are resiving pics like this then they should report them .
First of all, I love how the person from the first comment spelled recieving as “resiving.” Back to the matter at hand, yes, sexting is pretty disgusting. I actually caught a special on the Tyra Banks Show where several girls who had been caught sending nude photos to their boyfriends were being interviewed. They were 14! Teens have enough problems with cyber-bullying, so why would anybody in their right mind post themselves naked for potentially anyone to see?