The Importance Of Sexting On Social Media

According to guardchild.com, 17% of teens surveyed stated that they received an email or an online message with photos or words that made them feel uncomfortable, and only 7% of parents were aware of this. In an article titled “The Undercover Parent” by Harlan Coben, it explains about the idea about parents using spyware on their children. Everything a child types can already be seen by the world, even pedophiles or online bullies. Coben supports the idea; however, he feels that showing the article to a child is better because it can lead to a to a conversation about concerns the parents may have. Parents should monitor their children’s online behavior because they want to keep their children safe from cyber bullies and pedophiles.

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.

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.

We share our feelings, exact locations, and activities so easily through means of social media. These types of posts generally give away too much personal information which can further result in safety issues. Privacy isn’t such a big deal for teenagers now. They don’t realize the implications that comes with posting all of their life details.. This is where privacy needs to be of greater demand to keep children’s lives and secrets safe.

Even with the dangerous developments in social media over the past several years, many parents have chosen to allow their children to use these sites despite age restrictions. There are three reasons to argue for age restrictions on social media sites: lack of supervision by parents, targeting of children by pedophiles, and the prevalence of children falsifying their age. The ability of pedophiles to conceivably target children with social media proves that this is an issue that parents need to examine so that they may better protect their children. The threat from pedophiles causes an enormous problem for millions of children on social media sites. Unfortunately, Western Daily Press states that “Pedophiles can get away with grooming young teenagers on social media sites.” My essay will argue that age restrictions need to be in place, and additional regulations should ensure that law enforcement agencies have the tools required to supervise underage children 's use of social media, including Facebook and Twitter. Quoting from Business Wire, “three out of four parents feel that social network sites are not protecting children.” According to Irish Independent, “four out of ten children falsify their age” when using social media. I will also argue that additional research on this topic can be used to raise the awareness of parents, and can also help to alert the children themselves to the danger. My essay will also examine questions, such as: How can social media sites protect

Adolescents send messages to others in their schools, groups of friends, and their everyday peers. The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy took a survey in 2008 and showed 39% of teenage girls had “sent or posted sexually suggestive messages (or ‘sexts’)” (450). To clarify, this means that young girls are sending naked pictures to people that they are associated with. They also proved 22% of young ladies have used a computerized device to send or upload an unclothed or sensuous photo.

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)

Cyberbullies can hurt children and sexual predators stalk the internet. As Coben stated, “First we've all read about the young boy unknowingly conversing with a pedophile of a girl who was cyber bullied to the point where she committed suicide”(Coben). Cyberbullies attack children, but if parents had spyware they might be able to prevent these attacks. Suzanne Choney from NBC News stated, “with recent cases like that of a 14-Year old boy posting a sexually explicit video of himself with a 14- year old girl on facebook”(Choney). Monitoring teens while on social media could save children from sexual exploits. Although spyware may protect children from the dangers, it is also an invasion of privacy. As Dr Peggy Drexler asserted “its not the fault of the social media...The best policy is to give kids their privacy”(Drexler). Spyware is an invasion of privacy and may cause children to lose trust in their parents, but it is the parent's responsibility to protect their child. As Coben stated”...but surrendering parental responsibility to a machine that allows the entire world access to your home borders on negligence”(Coben). In addition, Coben also states that every thing that children put on the internet can be seen by everyone, “Shouldn't he learn now the internet is not a haven of privacy”(Coben).

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 today’s generation, teenagers have not known a life without technology. To them, it is second nature. Teenagers, with their raging hormones and access to technology, are inevitably going to discover sexting especially since it is growing due to its popularity in social media. It is more common than people may think. To minors it may seem like a harmless act to explore their sexuality. However, the law says otherwise. If they engage in sexting, adolescents can find themselves with a criminal charge. To gain a clearer understanding of the controversial issue on teen sexting, it is essential to know the development of adolescents, the impact sexting has on teens, and finally the sex laws set that relate to sexting.

Sexting is defined as the act of sending or receiving sexually explicit messages through mobile devices (Temple et al., 2012). The practice is increasingly common among hormone-driven teenagers who are becoming more sexually curious. Although sexting may seem quick and harmless, these 14 to 17 year olds do not realize the lasting consequences of their actions. The reality is that adolescents who engage in sexting are at greater risk of being victimized. Victims of sexting scandals may be exploited and publicly humiliated if their messages are abused or misdirected. In the case where a minor is involved, the act of sexting may lead to serious criminal consequences. Both the minor and the recipient may be convicted of a felony and charged with the possession, distribution, or receipt of child pornography (Jaishankar, 2009). Additionally, those who fall victim to sexting scandals may also be at risk of victim-blaming and victim-shaming. Both approaches hold the victim accountable for his/her own victimization and believe that he/she shares some responsibility for the harm directed against them. Nevertheless, the act of sexting can cause an individual to become a victim of bullying, blackmail, unwanted attention, and psychological distress (Temple et al., 2012).

One specific phenomenon that has emerged with the increase of smart phones and personal technology is the issue of sexting; the sharing or exchange of sexual messages or images (thesocietypages). As the deviant act of youth sexting is more common than parents might realize or want to admit (CNN), Kelly Wallace investigates how youth’s sexual behavior has become normalized through the act of sexting. The article, “Is Your Teen Using Apps to Keep Secrets?” explores how much of today’s youth share sexually explicit messages through the tech savvy world.

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.

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.