Cell Phones, Sexting and Teenagers

Twenge argues that as a result of the introduction of the iPhone, today’s teenagers are safer since they stay at home more often, and thus are less independent and radical than the teenagers of the past few decades. She endorses this argument with statistics that suggest that this generation of adolescents is less social, as seen in decreased dating, sexual activity, and teenage birthrate trends. She provides readers with the fact that “…only about 56 percent of high-school seniors in 2015 went out on dates; for Boomers and Gen Xers, the number was about 85 percent.” However, Twenge overlooks the fact that there are new risks to the safety of teenagers; there are many online predators masquerading themselves to lure teenagers and these teenagers have also become less worldly-wise. She only discusses statistics that work for her argument and does not consider other implications that the introduction of the smartphone has instigated. Thus, her argument is insufficient since she does not consider other aspects of adolescents’ safety. Moreover, Twenge is repetitive in her emphasis on the rates of unhappiness and depression in youth that result from using smartphones. Nevertheless, she conversely supplies only one study to support these claims: The Monitoring the Future survey is a long-term question-based study funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Using this study as her only piece of evidence does not effectively support her argument since this survey is funded for the purpose of studying drug abuse and it is unclear whether it is focused only on this purpose or on other aspects of teenagers’ lives. To strengthen her analysis, she must warrant her claim with additional data from studies that approach the problem in different ways. Furthermore, Twenge claims that the smartphone has resulted in

Imagine your teen facing pornography charges, as they are forced to register as a sex offender. You may think this is an image in a bad movie, but it happened in North Carolina, New Jersey, Utah, and several other states. In these states, 16 to 18 year old teens teased each other with “I’ll show you mine if you show me yours” type dares. After sending each other nude selfies, they found themselves charged with distributing child pornography. Imagine the enormous stress, public humiliation, and legal feels their parents and they faced. Parents can no longer turn a blind eye to sexting. Recent research found that over 20% of American teens admitted sending a nude selfie and over 25% admitted to forwarding a sext, which they received, to friends.

In the US today Americans recently discovered an emerging trend known as adolescent sexting. Sexting has been defined as the sending or receiving of sexually explicit or sexually suggestive images, messages, or video through a cellphone or the Internet; sexting can also be referred to as sending nudes. As Guidance Counselors at a High School it is imperative that we educate ourselves and our students on the consequences sexting may have. Many students fail to realize that once the photos or messages are sent there is no turning back. Those images/messages may be forwarded to audiences via the internet and various social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat etc. causing humiliation, depression and in some cases even causing suicide.

The Supreme Court case, Packingham v. North Carolina (2016) debates whether convicted and registered sex offenders should be limited in their social media usage on platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, which are most predominantly populated by minors. The constitutionality of North Carolina’s criminal law is being debated as it considers it a felony for any person registered as a sex offender in the state of North Carolina to have an account on social media sites such as Facebook, or any social media platforms that allow minors to have an account. The current North Carolina law is unconstitutional as it limits a clear example of free speech, and does so in a very broad and unjustified way,

Sexting is imprudent, untoward, and unfortunately - not all that uncommon. In a recent study of college freshmen, thirty-one percent of the participants reported sending a sexting image of themselves in high school to someone else using a cell phone (Martinez-Prather, 28).This action is a felony crime in Kansas, punishable by up to thirty-four years in jail, a substantial fine, and inclusion on the registered sexual offender list for life (Mobile Media Guard). While this may seem like excessive punishment for sexting, this punishment in not specifically for sexing. Since Kansas has no laws directly related to sexting, when minors are involved in sexting, the laws they have broken are those

Most recently Canon City, Colorado suffered from an ethical dilemma when, hundreds of naked co-eds started showing up on the football team’s cell phones. The act of having pornography on their phones executed not only the suspension of the team, it also caused the police and courts to assess the acts as child pornography trafficking. This predicament has inspired blatant conversation between parents and the community at large.

Americans recently discovered an emerging trend known as adolescent sexting. Sexting has been defined as the sending or receiving of sexually explicit or sexually suggestive images, messages, or video through a cellphone or the Internet. Sexting can also be referred to as sending nudes. As Guidance Counselors at a High School it is imperative that we educate ourselves and our students on the consequences sexting may have. Many students fail to realize that once the photos or messages are sent, there is no turning back. Those images/messages may be forwarded to audiences via the internet and various social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat etc, causing humiliation, depression and in some cases even causing suicide.

Damned If You Do, Damned If You Don’t… If You’re A Girl: Relational and Normative Contexts of Adolescent Sexting in the United States is a study by which researchers Julia R. Lippman and Scott W. Campbell investigate the teenage phenomenon of sexting. Their study looks at the

Selina’s Atlantic article takes the story of a sexting scandal in Louisa, VA to make broader claims about sexting. During the discussion of this article we focused on a variety of reasons for sexting. Such reasons include sharing pictures with a trusted partner and believing that everybody is sexting, thus there is a lack of shame among peers. Additionally, sexting is perceived to be the social norm in high school, thus creating the notion that if you do not sext you are in the wrong and considered to be weird. With such motivations, kids and teenagers do not think about the potential repercussions. However, at least 20 states have passed legislation addressing sexting, but the problem is that these laws do not allow for nuance. As such, teens are labeled as sex

In recent years, sexting has become more prevalent because of the fact that many adolescents are being given smartphones with built-in cameras at younger ages (Lorang et al., 2016). Having a

Sexting – teens sending sexually explicit photos of themselves via cell phones, email, or instand message – has become the latest in a line of highly charged issues involving kids and the internet. Sexting has become a widespread occurance that has destroyed lives and has caused emotional distress to many teenagers and young adults. Sexting gives teenagers the feeling of acceptance and the chance to be popular by gaining attention but what they fail to realize is the attention they are receiving is negative and it affects their reputation. Once a sext message has been sent, the receiver is given the opportunity to show the message to his or her peers and which will bring negative attention to the sender. Teenager’s sext for

Technological advances have increased dramatically in the past 40 years. Martin Cooper invented the first cellular phone in 1973, which was called the Dyna Tec, while working for the famous company Motorola. The first cellular phone did not sell well because it was as large as a brick. So now knowing how technology has advanced, it is obvious to see why it is advancing. Although technological advances have affected both the generalized public and society’s teenagers, it seems to have had a larger effect on society’s teenagers, specifically the advances in cellular phones. Not only does cellular phone usage affect a teenager’s social life and literacy, but it also affects their health. Cellular phones have a great impact on a teenager’s social life. The following solution would also be in their best interest without them even realizing it. The over use of cell phones by teenagers will have a negative effect on their academic, social, and mental development.

ICTs denote the array of technologies that help humans fulfill their information and communication needs. This entails the heterogeneous set of devices, applications, and services used in the production and distribution of information (Coleman, 2005). Over the years, ICTs have evolved tremendously, and now include the Internet, social networks, and mobile devices. Whereas this evolution has positively transformed the generation and circulation of information, the negatives cannot be overlooked. These technologies have now created new ways to perpetrate traditional crimes, including sexual violence

Many teenagers do not understand that they can get in serious trouble for sexting. Something that was fun and innocent at first doesn’t turn out that way. The Dallas News interviewed a teenager about sexting. “Sammy, a 16-year old from the San Francisco Bay Area who asked that his last name not be used, said he has shared naked pictures of himself with girlfriends. He also shared naked pictures of someone else that a friend had sent him.” Sammy said “I just don’t see it as that big of a problem, personally.” (News)This attitude is an attribute to the problem. If teenagers don’t realize the risk that is involved, they are more likely to participate in this new technologic phase.

With all the advancements in technology taking place there has been a lot of good that has come with it. Modern medicine, automobiles, and the cell phone which allows people to connect instantly. However with all the good things that have come with technology, there have also been bad things as well. One such thing would be cyberbullying and the addiction of smartphones. Smartphones have affected adolescents in ways previously not thought possible, such as causing poor social skills, addiction, and being used to cyberbully. Adolescents must be educated about the responsibility that comes with owning a smartphone. Smartphones should not be given to kids until they reach high school, because