/Sexting:Whatparentsandteenagersshouldknow

By Vincenza Previte

Before society started using text messaging as a new form of communication, men and women used conversations and body gestures to flirt. Today, many teenagers and young adults have found a sexier way to express interest for someone else. This new flirting technique is called "sexting," or the act of text messaging someone sexually explicit content such as racy messages and erotic photographs or videos.

Arlene Krieger, Ph.D., certified sexologist practicing in Florida, USA, said young girls, who are more flirtatious and more willing to sext than young men, believe sexting will help them attain acceptance and popularity.

"Maybe forty years ago girls wanted to be cheerleaders," Krieger said. "Nowadays, many girls engage in sexting to feel sexy, desired and popular."

Sexting is also considered by many people an amusing way to keep a relationship spiced-up. Still, those who engage in it have to be extremely careful of what they send because there's always a chance that people outside of the relationship may see the sexual content.

"You have to be extremely careful on what you send on your phone because it's something that could haunt you for the rest of your life," said A. Wichern, a 24 year-old who engaged in sexting four years ago while she was in a long-distance relationship.

Wichern exchanged sexy messages and a few photos with her boyfriend at the time because she thought it was a good way to bring something fun and naughty to the relationship.

"Phone sex seems to be so 1999," Wichern said. "Sexting seems to be the new foreplay for people."

Wichern said she was lucky this content wasn't used against her when she and her boyfriend broke up.

Many teenage girls, who do not only text in a sexy manner, but send sexually explicit videos and photographs as well, haven't been as fortunate. Many teenage girls' erotic photographs have been disseminated online after breaking up with their boyfriends.

Such is the case of an 18 year-old girl from Ohio, USA, named Jesse Logan who committed suicide in July of 2008 after having her naked pictures seen by hundreds of teens in her high school. Logan sexted with her boyfriend, but when they broke up, her boyfriend forwarded her pictures to other girls in school.

According to an edition of The Today Show, an American morning news show aired on NBC, Logan tried to go on with her life. She continued attending school and graduated, but after going to a funeral of a teen who had committed suicide, she decided to end her life the same way. No charges were filed against the boyfriend, nor did the school take any action.

Sexting's legal issues

Many teens and young adults aren't aware of the legal issues that are linked with the dissemination of erotic images, especially if the subject of the photograph is underage. In the United States, teens below 18 years of age who disseminate erotic images online could be charged with child pornography and be registered in a sex offenders list for decades. Federal and state child-porn laws don't exempt minors who create and distribute the sexual explicit images, even if these images are of themselves.

According to recent CNN report, some states in the U.S such as Nebraska, Vermont and Utah have enacted laws to soften this punishment. Legislators in other states are also considering lessening the charges from a felony to a misdemeanor.

In Spain, sexting laws are strictly enforced, but not to the same extent as those in the U.S. Child pornography laws for adults are applicable to teens between 12 and 18 years of age, yet teenagers may be punished differently than adults according on the gravity of each case.

"When you talk about teens, there's a lot of subjectivity on each case," said lawyer and Internet specialist from Madrid, Ofelia Tejerina. "It's the judge's decision whether to charge a teenager with a felony or a misdemeanor."

Tejerina said the punishment will be different for a teen who takes a picture of a naked body and disseminates it online compared to the punishment a teen could receive if he or she takes a picture of a sexual act and publishes it. In Spain, sanctions for adolescents have an educational purpose unless the teenager commits a felony such as raping or killing someone, then he or she will be severely charged.

Despite all the legal issues surrounding sexting in the U.S. and other countries around the globe, many teens continue to engage in it.

According to a study done by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, a nonprofit research group which spoke to 800 teens in the United States in 2009, 15 percent of teens who own cell phones have received sexually explicit text messages. Past studies done by other research groups, however, have shown a higher percentage of sexting incidents.

The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy and Cosmogirl.com, conducted a survey between September 25, 2008 and October 3, 2008 fielded online with a total of 1,280 respondents. The survey found that 21 percent of teen girls and 18 percent of teen boys have sent or posted nude or semi-nude images of themselves.

So why do teens keep sexting?

According to many specialists, many factors influence teens to sext such as raging hormones combined with ignorance and peer pressure to feel accepted.

Krieger said children and teenagers are also maturing much faster compared to past years as a result of how society has evolved. Nowadays, more parents are divorcing and more kids are left alone, which has made them educate themselves in a world where Internet plays a fundamental role.

Krieger said parents should talk to their children about sexting by the time the children are ten years old. She also said parents must monitor what children are doing during their adolescent years to keep them from making serious mistakes.

"It's bad when children are 12 and don't understand the consequences of their actions to start sexting." Krieger said. "Now more than ever, parents should be there to educate their children because if a picture gets out there, it's out there."

vincenzaprevite AT hotmail.com
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