The Dark Side of Sexting
"Hi Mom, It’s me naked."
Written and Researched by OUTLOUD
Young love burns with passion. Add in a little sexting, plus a couple of social networks, and you’ve created your worst nightmare. Those flirty sexy photos of you, which you innocently sent, are now being flashed to family, friends, employers and even total strangers.
Sexting, or shots of yourself naked, happen almost as quickly as you can fire off a text message, which might just be about five seconds flat. The sext messages can spread like wildfire from within a circle of friends to an entire school, or end up on networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook.
Beware! If you are under the age of 18 years, you can be charged with distribution of child pornography by sexting (sending and receiving) and you can earn a life long label as a sex offender. Legal action for sexting cases has been reported in at least 12 states, according to an article from The Washington Post. In Seattle, Wash., two high school cheerleaders were suspended after their photos were distributed to the football team. In Virginia, laws originally written for child predators are now applied to people under age 18 who are caught sexting shots of themselves or others.
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In Florida, the first case of sexting is that of Phillip Alpert, an 18-year-old from Orlando, who retaliated against his 16-year-old ex-girlfriend by distributing nude photos of her to more than 70 people. The photos even popped up in the inboxes of the girl’s parents and grandparents. Alpert was arrested on charges of distributing child pornography and he was sentenced to five years probation under Florida law, plus he is also listed as a sex offender — a label he will carry well into his 40s.
The sext messages can spread like wildfire from within a circle of friends to an entire school, or end up on networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook.
Research Survey
The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy launched the first public study of teens and young adults who engage in sexting.
The survey, conducted from September to October 2008, found that:
22 percent of girls
and 18 percent of boys (ages 13-19) have sent or posted nude photos of themselves
83 percent of young adult women
and 75 percent of young adult men (ages 20-26) have sent or posted sexually suggestive material to their boyfriend/girlfriend
*59 percent of all young adults
are sending or posting sexually suggestive messages
The survey targeted 1,280 teens and young adults ages 13 to 26
But sexting isn't just a legal issue — it's a popular trend that's happening among teens and young adults. A recent study found by The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy states that * 59 percent of young adults have sent/posted nude or semi-nude images of themselves. The reason, according to the study, is because sexting is a "fun and flirtatious" activity.
In reality, however, sexting can be a form of harassment. An 18-year-old girl from Ohio committed suicide months after she became the subject of endless bullying and name-calling. The harassment sprang from a revealing photo she had sent to her ex-boyfriend, who shared it with classmates, whom then forwarded it to hundreds of other teens. Not only are young girls taking suggestive photo of themselves, but the Associated Press reported that a young boy in Indiana is facing felony charges for sending photos of his "package" to some of his female classmates.
Young celebrities have also been victims of sexting gone wrong. A naked photo of High School Musical star Vanessa Hudgens made its way across the Internet, even though the photo was originally intended for her boyfriend’s eyes only. Another Disney star, Miley Cyrus, was targeted when photos of her wearing a green bra appeared on websites and blogs after someone hacked into the young singer’s cell phone.
Legislation to end child pornography prosecution charges against 13- to 18-year olds involved in sexting is pending in the U.S. House of Representatives. To avoid these charges the sender must voluntarily transmit the image to the recipient. Sexting would not be legalized, but would control the spread of indecent material amongst minors.
So next time you take a racy photo, think twice before you send it to your boyfriend or girlfriend or anyone else. You can end up with Internet infamy, an easy to slam target. And once online, your photos are there forever to be seen by future friends, employers and your future children.
For information regarding the National Campaign survey, visit: www.TheNationalCampaign.org/sextech.