Technology is both a blessing and a curse; because of technology you can get no fax payday loans in a matter of minutes, but your teenagers can also share explicit information via text messaging. Raising kids is a challenge in and of itself, but when you combine technology with mischief, your job as a parent gets that much tougher.
What is “Sexting”?
You know your kids use text messaging to communicate with their circle of friends.
Sexting Experts
Instead of passing notes like when you were in school, kids these days send text messages. Unlike the notes of your childhood, which were mostly harmless, the text messages kids are sending each other are extremely explicit. The newest teenage technology trend is sex texting, better known as “sexting.” Teens are sending sexually explicit messages to each other. With the camera capabilities now built-in to most cell phones, adolescents across the country are also sending nude photos of themselves to their peers.
The Sexting Appeal
To teens, sexting is just another way to flirt with the opposite sex. Unfortunately, the line between flirtatious and salacious is quickly crossed. If teens thought sexting was a big deal, they would be much less likely to do it. The problem is that teenagers are attracted to the false sense of security offered by text messaging. The average sexter assumes her dirty message or revealing photo is only going to be seen by one person–the recipient. What kids don’t understand is the rate at which that photo can be shared. A nude photo can be forwarded to hundreds of people or even uploaded to the Internet on their peer’s MySpace page.
OMG! Naked Cheerleaders
The most recent sexting incident in the news involves high school cheerleaders from the state of Washington. Two cheerleaders from the Bothell High School Cheer Squad were suspending from the squad for sexting nude photos of themselves to their boyfriends. The school and the school district learned of the pictures in August. One of the pictures was taken over three years ago. The parents of these cheerleaders are now suing the school district for mishandling the photos. Anyway, the photos that those two girls thought were harmless and private, found their way into the hands of the school district, and ended up in suspension. Hopefully, those Bothell High cheerleaders learned their lesson, and hopefully, teens across America will begin to realize that texting is not as harmless as it seems. Not only is sending nude photos inappropriate, those photos can and will find a way to resurface and haunt you when you least expect it.
Vanessa Williams’ Resignation as Miss America
It was a long time ago, but everyone remembers Vanessa Williams. Now a successful actress and singer, Vanessa Williams was a pageant girl in her younger years. In 1983, Vanessa Williams was crowned as the
first African American Miss America. Ten months into Williams’ reign as Miss America, nude photos she had taken prior to the pageant resurfaced. Long story short: Penthouse magazine published the nude photos of Williams without her consent, and Williams resigned as Miss America. The photos that Vanessa Williams thought were harmless and private came back to haunt her and cost her the title of Miss America.
The Pros and Cons of Technology
Vanessa Williams learned a valuable lesson that year—a lesson that the young kids of America need to pay attention to. The children of America have limitless potential, and it would be a shame if expllicit photos came back to haunt them and rob them of their dreams, because those photos are not harmless and private. Controlling your children and their use of technology is a daunting task. In that sense, technology is a menace. However, technology has also come so far along that you can call or apply online for no fax payday loans, and you can have money electronically wired to your bank account when you need it most. Technology has made it a dangerous world for our children, but it has also added conveniences to our lives like getting hassle-free no fax payday loans.
It is really scary how much information gets passed on phones and the internet. Parents need to keep a close eye on what their children are accessing and sending through their phones. Don’t be afraid to block websites and disable text messaging from your kids phone, it will save them and you from huge embarrassment.
This is nowhere near big news and should not really be that concerning for parents. If you raise your kids with a good understanding of technology and how the media and technology work, then they probably are going to understand the risks of taking nude photos of themselves.
However, through examples they are offered by the media they may not think taking nude photos of themselves is a big deal. Paris Hilton is still famous, and Vanessa Hudgens was still in High School Musical 3.
Having nude photos of yourself isn’t really a big deal. If Vanessa Williams was Miss America 2008 and some nude photos surfaced, I don’t believe there would have been any type of outcry at all.
But seriously, this is old news.
This is a big concern for parents these days, who knows what ones children are up to when you are away at work until 5 and then get home to make them a meal. When someone gives their child a cellphone they should not have to worry about stuff like this happening but it does and everyone should be aware of it just in case they find something like this on their child’s cellphone. A parent can only raise their child so much before the worlds view has effect as well!
You really need to be careful with what you do, especially when it comes to something as serious as nudity or other valuable information. Parents must also take action and monitor what their children are doing and who they’re doing it with. New technology has really open doors to disaster for many young adults. Let’s take the Internet for instance. For the longest time, it seemed the Internet safety was simply a matter of where you situate the computer in the house. Keep the computer in a public area and your children will be less likely to fall into the dark side of cyberspace – at least it was thought. But like I said, these days’s new technology, such as the wireless connections and cell phones, it’s very possible for youngsters to take the Internet with them wherever they go. It’s important that you not only supervise what they are doing on the Internet, but also educate them on the dangers of the Internet. Help them understand how to avoid online dangers and use the internet responsibly.
Educating your children about what is proper in all areas of life is essential. The impropriety of these kind of messages from teenagers is a no brainer, and the parents of said teens perhaps should have thought twice about getting them cell phones with text and photo capabilities. That said, not every parent can monitor their teen children all the time – but they can make sure that they don’t have the technological capability to do so. Between grown consenting adults is one thing, but teenagers? That’s a bridge too far. The education of our youngsters on proper finances is even more critical.
If it is your body u should be able to do whatever you like with it and
not have to worry about what people think or say.
nobody should have to go threw the embarrassment of having body pictures on their phone.
This is all new to me… If my child is receiving explicit forwards… is that considered sexting? ( I do not approve of it all the same)
In fact I am shocked she is only 12!