Teen Trouble: They’re Not So Innocent Anymore

This article is for both parents and teens, recently it has been made aware that a disturbing new trend has been happing all over the world, this trend is sexting.

Sexting is where teens send nude or semi nude photo’s of them selves to their peers by using their cell phones. What kids and most of us parents don’t realize is that the consequences of this can be far more traumatic and can literally change lives forever. Since most teens at least in America have a cell phone why aren’t more of us aware of the sexting that is going on?

Sexting is a scary thing and as anything dangerous we have to educate ourselves and our kids. So what can we as parents do? We need to be aware of the consequences of our children possessing a cell phone, first of all if you teen who is not working or driving yet then the question is why do they need a cell phone to begin with? If you feel your teen needs it for emergencies then might I recommend that you take control and program only the incoming and outgoing calls allowed on the phone. Monitor the phone and text use, and don’t give your kids a picture phone.

The picture phone is the root of all sexting, all it takes is for one girl to send a photo of a part of her body, then it gets sent to another and another, the result of all this the result of one innocent photo is…is it is not so innocent. And believe you me 1 out of 5 teens between the ages of 12-16 has sent or been sent some form of sexting whether visual or text, yup 1 in 5. So sexting can be done and received by anyone at any age, the problem is that passing any kind of pictures of a sexual nature with teens under the age of 18 is considered child pornography.

Imagine if some girl sent your son a picture of her self and he passed it along to his buddies, your son is now considered a sex offender and if convicted will remain so for the rest of his life. And if your daughter was the one to send it how do you think she would feel, their have been stories of teen girls who have tried to commit suicide because of shame, embarrassment and guilt; All this because a teen sent a photo.

So are we aware yet?  Sexting is a serious risk for all involved, so be aware of what your kids are doing with their technology and talk to your kids about the dangers of sexting, and just the general dangers of strangers on the phone, on the internet and even on the street. Save your child’s life or that of another but teaching them to be safe where ever they are. Sexting in no game…