Sexting kills teens' reputations if not their lives. It also opens them to bullying.
Opinion
Sexting kills
It destroys reputations, leads to bullying,
and kills teens
By David Serd : January 18 2009
A severe crackdown on pornography in China means that teens who send nude photos of themselves to others via mobile phones, and anyone caught sending dirty messages, photos or videos by phone, will have their phone blocked and will be reported to the police.
Sexting is the new curse on naive teens worldwide. Girls especially may have their reputations permanently destroyed through sexting. The nude photos they take of themselves with their mobile phone cameras and unsuspectingly send to impress their boyfriends have a nasty habit of turning up anywhere after that.
In a widely publicized case, 18-year-old Jessica Logan of Ohio sent a sext message (nude photo of herself) via her cell phone to her boyfriend. When they broke up the boyfriend sent the photo to other school students who knew Jesse. And some sent it on to others.
Soon these students started taunting Jesse. They called her a slut and a whore every time they saw her. She sank into depression, and became afraid to go to school.
The experience of being mercilessly bullied was so horrible for Jesse that she went on television to warn other teens never to get involved in sexting. Two months later, Jessica hanged herself. Her mother found her hanging in her room with her cell phone lying in the middle of the floor.
Sexting kills.
Surveys of teens in 2009 revealed the shocking statistic that around 20% of teens — one in 5 — had been involved in sexting. This shows an extraordinary ignorance among teens of the consequences of such risk-taking.
As soon as that photo or video goes from the teen's mobile phone there is no way of knowing where it will end up. Some end up on the internet, with the unsuspecting girl suddenly being part of a disgusting porn site or sleazy joke site that may haunt the girl forever, and destroy her career prospects. Photos can stay online indefinitely.
Many, like Jessica Logan's photo, are circulated without the subject's knowledge to a wider and less-caring audience. Some gullible kids think it is hilarious to see a girl they know in a naked photo, so they make fun of the girl and subject her to relentless taunts and bullying.
In 2008, an 18-year-old teen from Florida began serving five years' probation and had to register as a sex offender after forwarding naked photos of his 16-year-old ex-girlfriend to her friends, teachers and relatives. In April 2009, at least two students in Virginia faced child pornography charges in a sexting case. And more cases are popping up every month. Teens just don't seem to realize that what they are doing is against the law, and there will be consequences they don't want.
Mobile phones sold to teenagers should have a warning on them saying “Sexting kills”. It ruins reputations, opens them up to permanent scorn, and in extreme cases it kills.
It is also illegal almost everywhere to send nude photos of anyone under 18. So the girl who thought she would give her boyfriend a thrill by sexting him may find that she and all involved are guilty of distributing child pornography. They may go to jail for it.
Sexting kills.
Even Christian parents need to be aware that their kids are not immune from sexting. Some Christian teens may get involved deliberately, but more likely they will be innocent recipients, which can also cause legal problems for them and the parents.
Mobile phones are not as easy for parents to police as the internet is. At least with a home computer you can put it in an obvious place where you can see what the kids are watching. Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace accounts should be monitored as part of responsible parenting. But with camera phones, the kid takes it everywhere and you have no control over it.
Parents who care about their kids should discuss the massive dangers of sexting and try to make sure their teens are sensible enough to never get involved in it. There is too much at stake. As one commentator noted, “Teens need to realize that their virtual lives don't end. And when they move on to other parts of life, like job-seeking and parenting, those pictures may resurface.” They came back to haunt Miss California 2009, and in 1984 Vanessa Williams had to resign her Miss America crown after photos she had posed for in 1982 were leaked to reporters.
Until camera-phone manufacturers add labels to phones sold to teens that say “Sexting kills”, and the message gets out to teens that they are likely to be destroying their chance at a good future, parents who buy phones for their children should try to buy the more basic phones that don't have a camera, and even phones that don't receive photos if possible.
Sexting kills. Jessica Logan's mother has a dead daughter to prove it.
See also Jim Liebelt's article for parents: Sexting: A Parent's Guide to Keeping Your Kids Safe
Photo courtesy DefenseLINK.
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