Sexting: an alarming trend among teens

Gabbi Hansen, Staff Reporter
October 26, 2011
Filed under Opinion

    Did you know that 20 percent of teenagers in a recent survey admitted they have sexted or sent nude photos to another person? Even more alarming, 26 percent of these teens see nothing wrong with sexting\nude photos. These rates are growing uncontrollably into a huge problem all over. In anonymous poll at Kamiakin, out of 35 teens, 21 of them admitted they sexted. 21 teens at our very own school. Many of these teenagers have no idea of how devastating the consequences are and how their choices cause long-term effects. For example, Jesse Logan from Ohio.

     Jesse sent nude pictures of herself to her boyfriend who sent them to friends and they circulated around the school. Jesse was publicly humiliated and eventually committed suicide. A 13 year old girl and a 12 year old boy in Indiana  were convicted of two felonies, possession of child pornography and child exploitation and are now registered as sex offenders for 25 years because they were messing around and taking photos of themselves. Also this week in Washington, 3 girls were caught with nude photos and are being charged outrageous child porn fines, and a boy who received a picture from a friend is being held at juvy. Last year we had a kid at Kamiakin suspended for having nude photos of a girl on his cell. These ‘little’ mistakes people make can completely ruin their lives.

      In the state of Washington teens caught sexting can receive a 90 day suspension or immediate explosion depending on the pictures and intensity of messages sent\received. Legally these children also receive steep fines, are convicted with felonies, and occasionally registered as a sex offender for 25 years. Due to the popularity of the subject, law enforcers are suggesting an educational program on sexting instead of overloading juvy and convicting half of our teens today as sex offenders. Patricia Anyango at Kamiakin stated, “We are extremely overdoing punishment. It’s their body, its their choice to show it off to whoever they want. Its their risk. I think that if you want to sext, you can because it is your own choice. I don’t agree with doing it, but I don’t agree with the punishment either.”

    But if we don’t give punishment, how will we stop this problem? Are we even able to stop it? Rybecca Ruffin also from Kamiakin says, “I don’t think we can stop it no matter how much we want to. We just have to teach our children right from wrong and hope they know what to do.”

   I believe, as well as others, such as Annalise Bridges, that the school should not get involved. If it starts to circulate to people around the school, then they should get involved but other than that, it’s what a teenager does on his\her own time. None of it has to do with school related activities.

      But why? Why do teens fill up their own time with sexting? Is it because of low self esteem? Many high-school kids today are bullied and verbally abused and they feel the need to be ‘popular’, to feel wanted or special by someone. Or because they are self-conscious about their bodies and having someone make sexual comments about them or want them makes them more confident. But you shouldn’t have to be sexually disrespectful to your body and your reputation to feel important or pretty. That’s ridiculous! Not all teens sext for those reasons though. Some do it just for the attention. Others don’t do it for attention, or because of low self-esteem. So why?

    An anonymous teenage girl at Kamiakin said, “Yes I have sexted and sent nude photos. And everyone is always asking me why I did it. Well, I actually have a good level of confidence and am happy with the way I look, but I just feel so behind my friends. They all have boyfriends and stuff and I’ve hardly kissed boys yet I’m a sophomore. It’s also exciting. I come from a very religious family and its exciting to rebel and do something you’re not supposed to.” Angie from the Tyra Banks Show on sexting said similar things, she is as well confident in herself and her body, and she thinks very highly of herself but did it because she felt as if her boy-life was just going past her and she wasn’t part of any of the fun. The same girl from Kamiakin said, “I liked sexting because it’s fun, and at first, I didn’t see anything wrong with it. But then my pictures starting circling around and rumors starting getting spread and it completely ruined my reputation. I realized I’d made a big mistake. But everyone makes mistakes in high school. Its part of growing up. I learned from mine and hope others learn too, before it gets too late.”                                                         

   Everybody makes mistakes and does things that they regret and unfortunately, lots of teenagers’ mistakes in today’s world revolve around sexual intercourse, through texting and the phone. I just hope people can realize the growing issue sexting has become and do something about their mistakes before it gets too late and they have to suffer real adult consequences for a childish act they committed.