Technology And Technology : Why Kids Sext?

She explains that the girls she interviewed were not as much devastated or surprised, but betrayed and embarrassed. She highlights the difference between whether the teens are exploring their sexuality or being exploited. She stresses that parents need not overreact, otherwise causing a bigger disaster than the one in the first place. With a rise in the use of technology, the issue of sexting is going to become an even bigger issue. She even brought up the double standard that girls face; if they send pictures, they are a “slut”, but if they do not, they are a “prude”, while boys are not judged whether they sext or

They need to understand how sexting can lead to felony charges, humiliation, and more. One of the best ways to protect your teen from depression and other mental health issues, which can be caused by sexting according to recent research, is to talk to them. Let them know all the reasons why sexting is dangerous. For example, it can make them targets for sexual predators and haunt them for a lifetime. Additionally, more and more colleges and employers check online profiles for indications of a candidate’s suitability, compromising photos are a huge red flag. The low self-esteem that often results from sexting or comments about photos shared can also lead to a lifetime of low social status. Moreover, studies found that over 76.2% of teens who sexted on a regular basis and were propositioned during sexting admitted to having sexual intercourse. Another study found that approximately 28% of those became teen parents. Over a third of sexually active sexters ended up in abusive relationships. Many more noted being “slut shamed” in school due to a sext.

Today we live in a world where technology and social media are a big platform in our lives. Smart phones, iPads, and Tablets along with the internet provides many of positive ways to connect and communicate with others. Young adults were born into the generation of advanced technology which can also have possible negative effects. Sexting is the well-known meaning of sharing explicit photographs, text messages, and sexual content through digital devices, cellular devices or over the internet. According to the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, “22% of teen girls and 20% of teen boys have sent nude or seminude photos of themselves over the internet or their phones.” With this being said, many teenagers are engaged in sexting without being aware or considering the consequences of participating in this behavior.

Sexting has been all over the news. Of course its normal for someone to want to send a naughty picture to the significant other, but now we have teens (and even pre-teens) sending nude pictures to get attention from someone of the opposite sex. The pictures usually end up all over the teens school. We live in a new day and age, but most adults would be mortified if a nude picture of them was seen by someone that wasn’t

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

Researchers from the University of Utah’s Department of Psychology surveyed 606 teens ages 14-18 and found out that over 25% said that they had forwarded someone else's sext to another person (“Abbondanza.”). Some guys may send your sext out to other boys to prove that they are popular and it’s a way to show that they aren’t getting left out (“Sexting Among Teens Can Be Harmful.”). It also gives the boys bragging rights because they get to show off the pictures they are getting and use the pictures as a way of competition like saying “who can get the most sext.” If the sext gets into the hands of someone that doesn’t like you then they may send it around to people as a way to get back at you or a form of blackmail (“Sexting Among Teens Can Be Harmful.”). If your sext gets out and people start threatening you with it, it may lead you to do bad things like taking your life.

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

Parents also need to educate themselves about the problem of "sexting", including the potential issues of this behavior, and the resources which can help them address the issue with their children. (Social Policy Law, 2015)

Social media has become an outlet for teenagers to communicate constantly, monitor each other’s lives, and control what they want others to see. As social media is becoming more and more popular, more teenage moral panics are occurring. A moral panic is defined as the “fear of a new technology’s or cultural form’s negative impact outside of parental control.” (Jackson) Throughout these past few years, there have been an endless amount of teenage moral panics. Snapchat is an application that has caused a great amount of controversy. With the Snapchat application, you get to control how long the person you send a photo to can view that photo before it disappears. The problem with this is that you can take a snapshot of the photo before it disappears. Snapchat has become to be a teenage moral panic; more specifically Snapchat “sexting”, which is “the act of sending sexual messages and pictures to another person through phones or the internet.”(Klower) On Snapchat parents cannot control what their teenagers are sending and to who their teenagers are sending pictures and videos to. Therefore, teenagers feel a sense of privacy, and use the application to sext, which can lead to various negative behaviors.

One serious issue is sexting, Sexting among teens is not only illegal, but harmful and dangerous among the sender and the receiver. Both are held responsible for child pornography and can be dealt serious consequences. Sexting causes an increase in teen suicides, anxiety self-esteem and involves pressure meaning another forum cyberbullying. Exposing these pornographic photos will not only stress the deliverer but lead to sexual harassment in conclusion.

According to Judge there are "Major structural changes in the prefrontal cortex occur unit age 25, with immaturity in this region associated with an underdeveloped capacity for impulse control, judgement, decision making, planning, and the integration of emotions and thinking" (90). The mixture of neurobiological development and sexting can be linked to behavior that is emotionally driven which is also often impulsive and without any understanding or clear anticipation of the consequences that can come from that action. We can relate that the action of sending a sext can be caused due to the fact that adolescents at that period are still developing. At that age, the adolescent may not be able to make the right decision especially regarding such sensitive material. As Judge mentions ".. the problem is that electronic devices may, in effect, usurp behavioral choices before an individual may be psychologically prepared" (91). If they cannot seem to make the right decision because their brains are developing, they may do something that later on in life they will regret and with something that you may never take back. Although during brain development it is hard to control impulsive behaviors that can lead to sexting, proper guidance can potentially help reduce those actions.

These sexts are often shown to or forwarded to friends and acquaintances. Sometimes, the explicit photos contained in the texts are uploaded on social media websites such as Facebook and Instagram or sent through email (Stone, 2009). Adults can easily access sexts shared with friends and posted online. Since taking, possessing, and posting sexually explicit photographs of teenagers under the age of 18 is a form of child pornography, teen sexting should be illegal (Matte, 2013).

Young people use a lot of technologies in a daily basis, and it has its benefits: opportunities for communication, community involvement and exposure to other views/opinions. It is also important that there are forums related to sexuality where kids can explore sexually related questions. However, sexting became too much among young people.

Two years ago the word sexting did not exist. The combination of the words “sex” and “text” is now a term that is heavily discussed and causes issues for parents, students, educators, and law enforcement. Although there is no legal definition of sexting, it generally refers to writing sexually explicit messages, taking sexually explicit photos of themselves or others in their peer group and technologically transmitting those photos and/or messages to their peers. Now many people don’t know the problems associated with sexting. Most of these problems occur when one or all parties are minors. When a minor is involved there can be serious consequences that can follow a person for a life time.

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.