I do not have teenagers (thank the Lord), but I know what it is like to be a parent. I often think how difficult it is to be a parent and an adolescent in today's world. Let me tell you that I hate the news because it is all about the negative, rarely emphasizing the positive, however sometimes I do learn something by not switching the channel as soon as a newcast comes on the airwaves. Is anyone out there familiar with sexting?From what I am told sexting is texting semi nude or nude photos to the object of your affection. In my day we use to pass notes (but I digress), but now in the technological age we are able to reach out in a more intimate way;-) Text-messaging, it seems, has become the communication mode of choice among teenagers. That has opened the door to growing abuses.
Apparently teens taking risqué photos of themselves is turning into a full-on epidemic. Researchers from Teenage Research Unlimited have finally put some hard numbers to the anecdotes about teens getting themselves in trouble with revealing photos. According to the study, commissioned by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and and unplanned pregnancy and CosmoGirl.com, 22-percent of teenage girls and 18-percent of boys have taken nude or semi-nude photos of themselves and sent them to someone or posted them online. And a third of young adults (20-26 years old) have done the same.Young adults and teens view sending these photos and suggestive text messages as simple digital flirting. 39-percent of teens and 59-precent of those young adults say they've sent naughty texts a means of flirting.
Do you think this is harmless flirting or is it a growing problem among teens?
9 comments:
I think it is flirting, but hardly harmless, what these kids dont understand is that once you put your self out there, your out there.
And it can come back to bite you.
Do people even realize that all digital communication, once sent, NEVER DISAPPEARS???
Once entered into that great cyber library, all text and picture messages, emails, blogs, forum posts and websites have a permanent spot on a shelf in the world wide web.
I can't imagine what some nasty little hacker pervert might be doing with some of these!
Maybe it's time for classes in privacy and personal security to be taught in our schools.
Very scary.
BTW, my dear, you inspired my latest post Are Pay Phones A Relic of Our Past?
Heard about this this morning and said "what?". Reminded me of another story I heard earlier this week about some cheerleaders being suspended from the squad because of nude photos being circulated via text messages. Seems like the parents of the girls were ticked off because nothing was done to the folks circulating the photos even though they admitted that their daughters had made a "mistake". OK, I'm a parent of 2 daughters one 20 and one 18. All I know is that if there were nude pics of them circulating for which they had obviously posed that there would be some severe consequences and repercutions paid by them at my hands!
Holy crap, I have a lot to say here. I may have to do a post on this so I don't take up your entire page with my thougths...if I do of course I will back here to you!
You are very right to be thankful not to have a teenager. I Love My Son...But, I don't like him much these days. He has photos of his girlfriend on his phone that would make a Playboy Centerfold blush.
Its a sign that there is very little in our society today that is held in high regard and that's one of the reasons things are so messed up.
Isn't it fascinating how all of this NEW technology and our ready access to it, only seems to make some of us DUMBER . . . or at least our behavior.
If I sound old, so be it... I think "sexting" is a growing problem. Although they look at this as harmless fun, they aren't stopping to think that these photos could turn up anywhere once they are sent. 5-10 years from now, they could be applying for a job and lose out because a prospective employer saw a side of them that they never should.
By the way, where is my cane and shawl?
I think it is a real problem. Sending nude or semi nude photos via cellphone is in violation of the FCC regulations. (it is actually a federal offense). politely put it is called,"indecent exposure"
I'd been gathering some tatistics for an upcoming series that seems to support some of your oservations here. First of all, the biggest consumer of child pornography? Other children. This isn't something that one would normally think of, but it does make sense to me.
Secondly, I've read in some places that the rate of pre-18 year olds who have posed nude is actually higher than the figures you posted, but your figures are most likely more accurate than the ones I have. Still, compare those figures to other generations, the members of which pose, on average, at a clip of 11%.
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