"Sexting" (from "sex" and "texting") is the act of sending sexually explicit photos electronically, primarily between cell phones. It is practiced primarily by young adults, though it is known to occur amongst children as young as middle-school age. In January 2009, a survey of 1200 teenagers reported that one in five had sent explicit photos of themselves. Sexting has been linked to severe embarrassment when photos are passed to people other than the intended recipient, even contributing to the suicide of the sexting initiator.
NBC The Today Show, March 6, 2009: 18-year-old Jesse Logan took her own life after a nude picture of her was passed around by e-mail. TODAY?019s Matt Lauer talks to her mom, Cynthia Logan, and Internet safety expert Parry Aftab about the dangers of sexting.
References:
Sexting, from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Kids today don't really think about the long term consequences of their actions. Today if you bring a prescription drug into your high school and ask to go to a water fountain to take it you can get expelled (happened recently here, Straight A kid, with legitimate prescription).
ReplyDeleteMost kids don't realize that their online profiles will also be scanned before a potential employer will hire them. Things were much simpler in my day and the options for illegal activity took much more effort than today. My sympathy to the girl's family & to the boy who will have to live with what he did.
I am a psychologist researching the issue of sexting, which starts in middle school. Please visit my website for a psychological explanation of sexting at:http://realpsychology.com/from-the-couch/sexting.php
ReplyDeleteParticipate in RESEARCH on SEXTING by participating in an anonymous survey at:
http://tests.queendom.com/research/index.html