Sexting......It is a Teenage Epidemic

I had hoped by the time I reached my "golden years" (whatever that means) that I would not be dealing with the hormones of a sixteen year old. But alas that is not be be.  The call came from the school about the boys who were in possession of an "inappropriate" photo on their cell phones.  It was not only my teenagers it was a whole passel of them and the picture was a girl in their class.

In this day and age of social media we don't worry so much about the Playboy magazines hidden under the bed, now it is what is on the phone, the computer, the IPAD and all the other electronics that they may have access to.  Many times we have had the "talk".  Respect the females in your life. Know that your actions reflect your attitude. People will judge by what they perceive you think or do.

I had hoped this would forestall any of these calls from the principal but alas this was not meant to be.  How did we handle this issue.  First the phone, take it check out the contents and make him earn it back.  Second more talk, what can happen if he has possession of such material when he turns eighteen, child pornography is a crime.  Third work with the school for an appropriate punishment.

This turned out to be a one day suspension and a day of cleaning the leaves from the gutters, stowing away the summer equipment, raking the leaves, doing the dishes, running the vacuum and generally just slave labor for a day.  Did this work?  No one really knows for sure.  I just know this type of sexting is at epidemic proportions in our society and it is critical that you keep checking to insure your teenagers isn't taking and posting nude pictures of themselves, receiving pictures from their friends and finally positing them on social media sites.

The boys were one step away from the sheriff and the main perpetrator is expelled from school.  Mostly I worry about what happened with the young girl.  How must her parents and grandparents feel and what can they do to help her understand the damage that was done by this picture.

This article really shows the issue with real numbers:

Teenage Sexting Statistics

In a recent survey posted by The National Campaign, some alarming statistics about teenage sexting were uncovered. Sexting seems to be the newest craze among teenagers and it is a very dangerous craze. Sexting is when a person takes a flirtatious, nude or semi-nude picture of their self and sends it to others through their cell phone or other means of texting device.

Should parents be concerned about sexting? Yes, especially when you read some of the sexting statistics below.  Kids are sexting to people they only met online, they are sexting to boyfriends and girlfriends or potential companions.  Some of the teenagers are sexting out of peer pressure. Some just do it for fun. But they are doing it and a parent needs to be aware of the potential dangers of sexting.

Not only can sexting ruin reputations, but it can also get your teenager arrested for distributing child pornography. This has happened quite frequently lately as you can see by some of the news stories about sexting. The images also get circulated on the Internet. Parents need to monitor their kids cell phone very closely. Cell phone monitoring can be done either physically or with the help of a software service like Mobile-Spy Or WebWatcher.

Here are Some of the Shocking Sexting Statistics:

The percent of teenagers who have sent or posted nude or semi-nude pictures or video of themselves:

• 20% of teenagers overall
• 22% of teen girls
• 18% of teen boys
• 11% of young teen girls ages 13-16

The percent of teenagers sending or posting sexually suggestive messages:

• 39% of all teenagers
• 37% of teen girls
• 40% of teen boys

15 Percent of teenagers who have sent or posted nude or seminude images of themselves say they have done so to someone they only knew online.

48 Percent of teenagers say they have received such messages

71 Percent of teen girls and 67% of teen guys who have sent or posted sexually suggestive content say they have sent or posted this content to a boyfriend or girlfriend.

21 Percent of teenage girls and 39% of teen boys say they have sent such content to someone they wanted to date or hook up with.

44 Percent of both teen girls and teen boys say it is common for sexually suggestive text messages to get shared with people other than the intended recipient.

36 Percent of teen girls and 39 % of teen boys say it is common for nude or semi-nude photos to get shared with people other than the intended recipient.

51 Percent of teen girls say pressure from a guy is a reason girls send sexy messages or images; only 18 % of teen boys cited pressure from female counterparts as a reason.

66 Percent of teen girls and 60% of teen boys say they did so to be “fun or flirtatious”; their most common reason for sending sexy content.

52 Percent of teenage girls used sexting as a “sexy present” for their boyfriend.

44 Percent of both teen girls and teen boys say they sent sexually suggestive messages or images in response to such content they received.

40 Percent of teenage girls said they sent sexually suggestive messages or images as “a joke.”

34 Percent of teen girls say they sent or posted sexually suggestive content to “feel sexy.”

12 Percent of teen girls felt “pressured” to send sexually suggestive messages or images.

See More Sexting Statistics. Hint: It isn't getting any better.

from: http://www.pcsndreams.com/