Teen Sexting

Teen sexting has been an important problem in American society ever since android phones came out in the early 2000s. For many people, sexting sounds very simple: one person taking an inappropriate picture of themselves and sending it on to someone they feel some sort of emotional attachment to. This in turn can be extremely dangerous because the person taking the picture is degrading and putting him or herself in a vulnerable situation. This picture can easily be sent out to the world, and soon, the person who took the picture would find out that everyone could have access to it. In my opinion, it doesn’t matter whether an adult is sexting or a teen is sexting. I believe that all forms of pornography are degrading and it would be beneficial

Oftentimes, teen sexting occurs when a teenage boy asks his girlfriend, or just any girl that he thinks he can manipulate, for a naked picture. The girl then feels pressure to impress her boyfriend, or who she thinks as her “potential” boyfriend and sends him a naked picture. There is often a great amount of confusion of what each person wants in a sexting situation. The girl thinks that the picture will impress her boyfriend or crush and then lead to better things in their relationship, but the boy thinks that he will get the naked pictures and potentially forward it to all of his friends and possibly isn’t even interested in the girl. If any person asks someone for a naked picture, the chances aren’t good that they want to have a deep relationship with them, because it is implied that they only like the other person for their body, and not for their personality. Andrew Haskell of the Falcon Newspaper states, “Pornography destroys relationships, warping expectations and poisoning sexual appetite.” This shows that the two people in a sexting situation misunderstand expectations of a relationship. Sexting also isn’t even safe in a dating situation, because if someone sexts, and then the couple break up, a boyfriend or girlfriend might spread their supposedly private pictures as

The problem with this type of harsh punishment is that not all teens are educated on the consequences or importance of this problem. The dangers of teen sexting should be taught in health classrooms throughout America, with a strict emphasis on laws and consequences for those who are caught sexting. According to Bill Alpert of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, “1 in 5 teens does it.“ Here, the big issue of teen sexting is illuminated through this shocking statistic. One out of five teens sexting is way too much and it just shows how teens aren’t educated enough in the dangers of teen sexting. But I don’t believe that all people who have been caught sexting should be convicted a felon or put on the sex offender list for the rest of their life. Teenagers who asked for a naked picture compared to those who took a picture, are the ones who should deserve a harsher punishment, because educated on the subject or not, it is common sense to know that manipulating someone for a naked picture is wrong. These types of teenagers are manipulators who are playing on someone’s emotions for their own enjoyment or using photos as acts of revenge. Overall, I believe that those who ask for the photos should receive felony charges and those who are caught should receive community service or misdemeanor