Sexting the new craze of teenage children

Sexting is the newest craze with our youth today; teenagers are sending half nude or all nude pictures over cell phones or posting them on the internet for their friends to see.  It has become a fast epidemic and adults are becoming victims of these teenage pranks.  Many adults have been accused of sex crimes and some teens are also being charged with sex crimes.  In all of the reports it seems as if they all begin with no intent of the breaking the law. It’s simply, just children making poor choices without realizing the magnitude of the situation.  Technology has become a sexual predator’s biggest tool and our children’s newest toy; children do not realize how their actions have put themselves and others in a vulnerable situation.

In New Jersey a 14 year old student has recently been charged with posting pornographic photos of herself online, and is currently awaiting a hearing.  The teenage girl posted nude photos of herself on MySpace with the intentions of just teasing her boyfriend; her profile was set to private and figured that he would be the only one to see them.   A lack of judgment on her part but we have to remember that she is a 14 year old girl with little life experience or inhibition.  When I was growing up we did not have cell phones or the internet so typically there were games played; I will show you mine if you show me yours, and the game, doctor.  The lack of judgment on our part was just the same we however did not get caught because there was no so called evidence.  So it raised the question to me; are times that different and have our children become more sexually explicit?  After doing research on the subject I have come to the conclusion that sex is a lot more tolerated and talked about these days then it was even ten years ago.  The statistics of teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases are at an all time high.  Censorship is also not nearly what it was ten years ago and we have become much too tolerant of what our children are exposed to.  It is no surprise that technology has come back to backfire on all of the people that have decided to expose our youth to less censorship.

After contemplating what our society has come to and to see just how tolerant we are of differences in people it brought me back to the time period of the 1800’s, during which Frankenstein was created.  I began to wonder if he would have been more accepted in the 20th century as opposed to when he was created.  Has society become that accepting of others that we can now look past ones appearance and just see their heart and intentions?  I personally believe that he may have had more of a chance now than he did; simply because we as a society are much more accepting of differences in people.  However that being said he still would have faced diversity.  Some people have their beliefs and will not waiver from them to be more accepting of others differences.  There are many alternative lifestyles that we have to be aware of and be non -discriminatory toward because you will be breaking the law if you do.  Perhaps Frankenstein would have been protected by a law, yes a far stretch but isn’t that what it has boiled down to, protecting one’s rights?   Have we been forced to become more tolerant or is society just becoming more understanding?

In every generation there is change and issues will arise creating a new law or an understanding of an unwritten law requiring the legislation to put them in writing.  Laws are constantly being modified to accommodate the changes in society, but somehow they seem to conflict with the rules of censorship and our society’s tolerance or acceptance of people and issues.   So how can we incorporate morals and ethics to protect our youth?   Has society set double standards and now teenagers and adults alike pay the repercussion of the double standards we have set?  We have laws to protect the rights of the general public however often times the innocent are accused of horrific crimes that can devastate there life.   A principal in Virginia was charged with a sex crime because he was trying to investigate his students that were involved with sexting. He had the pictures as evidence to try to put a stop to the teenage indecent behavior.  The incident has destroyed his career and he has had a long court battle to prove his innocence.

Society has differences of opinions when it comes to moral issues and then laws are set into place that often times contradict the moral compass of society.  There needs to be a standard set into place to protect the innocence of our youth and those trying to protect them, rather than convicting the adults trying to put a stop to indecent behavior.  When it comes to protecting someone or standing up for somebody people tend to shy away from it often times due to the fear of being charged with a crime that they never set out to commit.  It is difficult to set a standard across the board because there are always different circumstances that surround each situation.  I believe it is the parent’s responsibility to protect our children and when the children are outside of the home it then becomes society’s responsibility to also protect them.  As human beings we need to become more patient and tolerant of peoples differences, keeping in mind that censorship is ultimately the parent’s choice molding their child’s view on what is appropriate or not.

Censorship has been a concern for many years and the standards have progressively gotten worse.  In the book, Principles to Ponder by Theodore Carcich written in 1963, also explored the dangers of technology. Theodore discussed the use of television and the concerns he had regarding it.  “Unless this kind of control is kept in mind and insisted upon, this modern invention will become a curse instead of a blessing.”   Technology has become much more advanced in the last 40 years and if we are not careful it could become the demise of our society.