Be Responsible or Let your Kid Ruin Their Life - Sexting is a Potential Sex Crime

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A recent report by The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy indicates that about 20% of teens (ages 13-19) and a hard to fathom 33% of young adults (ages 20-26) have shared nude or semi-nude pictures of themselves either via mobile phone SMS text messages or by posting on the internet. Teenage girls are a little more likely to do this than boys and a very disturbing 11% of the young teen girls (ages 13-16) admitted to sending inappropriate photos of themselves.
Recent reports from The Nielsen Company and the Pew Research Center point to a handful of factors that should be causing concern for parents and guardians. These problems are also an opportunity for software solutions companies. There is growth in the number of teens that own mobile phones, the amount of texting they do, and potentially much more serious the percentage of young adults that are occupied with "sexting" - the sending of potentially illegal images or text messages from mobile phones.
Why the fuss and bother? Just innocent fun, youth discovering their new sexuality?
You might want to reconsider. Sending a sexually explicit photo of someone underage is a sex crime. Young people are being arrested, convicted and having to register as sex offenders. They are risking more than emotional distress and humiliation, charges of sexual misconduct can result in getting suspended and expelled from school, losing scholarships, and losing jobs. A felony conviction may also affect future employment opportunities, including law enforcement and other high-security clearance positions. In other words, ruining their lives over a little "innocent" fun.
There isn't anything innocent about it. Consider that if a sixteen year old sends a sexting photo of themselves - they could be violating child pornography statues in most states.
Getting convicted in criminal court for "sexting" can have other serious consequences. In addition to the potential jail sentence and/or fine levied by a judge, registration may be stipulated with the Sex Offender Registration Board for the next 20 years. Furthermore, the criminal court may order the forfeiture and destruction of the computer or digital devices used.
As sending SMS text messages from mobile phones has become an attraction in teenager social life, parents, educators and advocates have grown increasingly troubled about the role of cellular phones in the sexual lives of youths. A new survey from the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project (pewinternet.org/topics/Teens.aspx) concluded that four percent of mobile phone using youths ages twelve to seventeen indicate they have sent sexually suggestive nude or nearly nude images or videos of themselves to someone else using SMS text messages. This activity is commonly referred to "sexting" in today's vernacular. Furthermore, 15% say they have received these kinds of images images of someone they already know via text message.
According to research from marketing research firm The Nielsen Company (blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/under-aged-texting-usage-and-actual-cost/) American young people transmit an unbelievable average of 10 SMS text messages every hour that they are not in school or sleeping - and probably a lot during school too!
By analyzing more than forty thousand monthly US mobile telecom bills, Nielsen found that American teenagers sent an average of an astonishing 3,146 texts each month during the third quarter 2009.
Their younger counterparts - tweenagers - ages 9-12 years old sent about 1,100 text messages each month. That equates to four per hour they were in school or not sleeping. In comparison, the average number of monthly texts sent by all mobile phone users collectively was a little more than five hundred. In the fourth quarter 2009, tweenage users aged nine to twelve increased messaging usage by eight percent just about doubling the quantity of text messages.
Pew Research points out that sending provocative images happens usually during one of three specific scenarios: The first, exchanges of images solely between two romantic partners;
the next, lists exchanges between partners that are then shared with other people; followed by, exchanges between people who are not yet in a relationship, but where often one party hopes to be.
Teens were interviewed and gave Amanda Lenhart, Senior Research Specialist and author of the report various explanations behind the impulse to get involved with sexting. These included the researcher's interpretation that "...sexually suggestive images had become a form of relationship currency,"; that sexting images "... are shared as a part of or instead of sexual activity," and that SMS text message sexting is a way of establishing a relationship. Sensitive images are also passed along to other people "... for their entertainment value, as a joke, or for fun."
Teenagers also shared with researchers the peer pressure to share sexual images. Not surprisingly the report also reveals that young people who are more intense users of cell phones are more likely to receive sexually suggestive images. For these teens, the phone has become such a common means for communication and a variety of content that doing without it is unlikely.
The combination of risk-taking and sexual exploration during the teenage years mixed with constant connection via cell phones and other mobile devices "...creates a 'perfect storm' for sexting," said Pew's Amanda Lenhart. "Teenagers have always grappled with issues around sex and relationships, but their coming-of-age mistakes and transgressions have never been so easily transmitted and archived for others to see."
Despite the indications that per user usage has peaked (they can't possibly use them more can they?!?) Nielsen estimates that overall text messaging usage will grow as the heavy text messaging population ages and entices the older generations to text with them in order to stay in contact with them. Existing SMS users will continue to use texting extensively and as tweenagers age they will increase usage. The number of text messages sent per capita has grown every year and should continue.
If you've got teens then in all likelihood not shocked by the usage numbers. In all probability most parents can't believe their children are involved with sexting, or they are looking for ways to find out. While parents may be upset that all the texts their teens and tweens are sending will land them in the poorhouse, Nielsen research shows the average cost of a single text message is just one cent. The real issue concerning parents is not so much how often teens use their phones but more about how they use their phones, and when they are texting.
Sexting is a very complex issue. Consequently, it is very difficult to provide guidance on how best to handle these situations. The National Center For Missing & Exploited Children policy states that there are four roles to every sexting case: the person seen in the picture, the person who took the picture, the distributor(s) of the picture, and the recipient(s) of the image. In some cases one person may assume more than one of these roles (e.g., a child takes a sexually explicit picture, of herself and sends it to a friend). In other situations, multiple people may take on a single role (e.g., a child takes a sexually explicit picture of himself and sends it to a classmate who then forwards the photo to the entire high school senior class). It is important to think about the intentions and motives of each of the parties in every situation.
The National Center For Missing & Exploited Children advocates parents monitor cell phone use. A practical technological solution available for parents and guardians to find out what what's going on with their children is cell phone technology.
Sexting can be against the law. Parents are responsible to stop it. Especially considering low cost solutions can be ordered online. A really great software package that includes remote control of device settings, and combines Phone GPS Tracking with SMS text message, Call Log, MMS multi-media message monitoring, and a web account for storage and review is PhoneBeagle.

Article Source: http://depositarticles.com/

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