Teenage Texting
Are They Texting Or Sexting?
Teenage texting is fast becoming a popular topic among parents and lawmakers. The two issues most talked about, by lawmakers and parents, are texting while driving and sexting.
Sexting is a new term for sending sexually explicit photos and messages with a cell phone. It is not just teenagers that do this, far from it, but they are the ones we are talking about here. Lawmakers and parents around the country are wondering how to deal with the new trend that is becoming more and more widespread. At this point it is rather vague as far as what laws are being broken. That has lawmakers hard at work creating new ones.
At this point we
do know that pictures of minors constitutes child pornography, even if
they are taken by a minor. In several states, laws are being
enforced, that make sexting a misdemeanor. This would be for cases
involving teenagers where the sender voluntarily transmitted the image.
Other laws that are being broken with this type of activity are lewd and
lascivious conduct and disseminating indecent materials to a minor.
A teenager in Indiana is currently facing felony charges for obscenity. He allegedly sent a photo of himself to several of his classmates, female classmates that is. The photo, of course, was of his privates. A 15 year old girl in Ohio was charged with sending racy photos of herself to classmates and also in Ohio eight teens were convicted of sending indecent cell phone photos amongst themselves.
An interesting point has been made regarding whether or not kids have any idea they are breaking the law. Apparently many of them do not. It seems to me it should be our jobs as responsible parents to talk about cell phone use with our children. There have to be certain responsibilities that go along with these phones, make sure they know exactly what they are. Do you have limits on their minutes usage, their texting numbers or the times of day the phone can be used. These limits can be set by you or your phone plan, either way, spell it out in detail to your child and hold them to it. The cell phone is a privilege, not a God given right.
An even more alarming matter involving teenage texting is how popular it really is. A recent survey says that one in five teens have sent or received nude, near nude or sexually explicit photos via their cell phones. A high percentage of these photos were between boyfriend and girlfriend. Do these kids not understand that as soon as they break up with this person these photos could easily be all over school or all over the internet? What part of this concept do they not understand? Will they believe us if we try to explain it to them?
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has a couple of numbers that might help to put this thing into perspective. They have identified 2,100 children as having been victims of online porn. Twenty five percent of these kids sent the initial images themselves.
Pages related to Teenage Texting
Teenagers And Drugs : Texting While Driving : Teen TalkConnect With Your Teen : Unfit Youth : Teenage Piercing
Effective Teenagers : Teens And Preteens : Solving Parenting Problems
