NEWS: Sexting - Everybody's Doin' It!

CULTURE: Sexting - Everybody's Doin' It!

It all started with catching one titillating glance. Just one peek of the smoking hot brunette's freshly inked sleeve as she sat down next to you in your Creative Writing class. A week passes and you finally muster up the courage to ask her a question about sentence structure. She replies by writing her number on your palm, saying, "in case you want advice from a cunning linguist." Result!

You text your new sexy study buddy immediately after class. In a matter of days your fingers are feverishly stroking the keys of your mobile phone, writing about that other thing which is being stroked. You both send naughty pictures back and forth over Spring break, making plans to have mind-blowing sex when you meet again.

Everything is great, except for that one little issue.. you have a girlfriend. Not a problem! Cyber sex isn't really cheating.. right?

Don't worry, 5 out of 10 of us do it. Really! One study shows that more than 60% of adults ages 20-26 had sent sexually explicit text messages, and half of that percentage has digitally sent naked or partially-nude photos of themselves.

Despite the majority of young adults partaking in lascivious virtual acts it hasn't been well received by the rest of the general public. Some have even been taken to court for it. In Ohio the charge for "sexting" is a felony.



However, according to Wikipedia, attorneys are pushing for the punishment of this most heinous crime to be dropped to a 1st degree misdemeanor, to "eliminate the possibility of a teenage offender being labeled a sex offender for years. The proposal was supported by the parents of Jesse Logan, a Cincinnati 18-year-old who committed suicide after the naked picture of herself which she sexted was forwarded to people in her high school."

MTV even jumped on the anti-sexting bandwagon with their A Thin Line Campaign parading about the statistic that

Since more than half of us do it, what do you think? Do you think that something you text when you're horny will lead to something harmful, like in this video?



Or are these anti-sexy talk campaigns just giving you blue balls/ovaries?


Photos courtesy of Klaireebearr and Still Burning

We definitely need more laws to protect our children from the dangers of sexting. I know a kid who was shot by gangs after sending only one sext. The truth the mainstream media doesn't want you to know is that naked bodies kill people.

LOL. Oh dear oh dear.


It's the risk you take when you send naked pictures. If you're that bothered about them being shown to other people there's a really simple solution: don't send them in the first place.

As for sexting, it's all in good fun! It's clearly being taken way out of proportion.

That's misleading. I suspect you got that fact from this article which states

I suspect every other state in the Union, if they haven't amended their child pornography laws, could theoretically consider sexting among minors a felony.

The laws in question seem to me to be rather statutes.

There might be things to nitpick about those laws, but I think they're more or less uncontroversial. Saying "In Ohio the charge for 'sexting' is a felony" suggests that Ohio has a particular felony statute regarding sexting and that other states don't. On the contrary, Ohio seems to be among the leaders in discussing the modification laws to mitigate the effects of sexting without causing undue harm to dumb kids being dumb kids.

So taking a pic of yourself (as a minor) then sending it (peer) also a minor could be a violation of law.

what, exactly, is the link between sexting and suicide? every new technology is used for sex. get over yourself people. christ. and @Tallboy___66, yes, it is, actually.

Yes, this very thing has happened.

Remember the good old days when we teens just exchanged polaroids?

Or drew dirty pictures during class?

That Rachel video seems a bit over-the-top, but she's right. Use common sense, fer chrissake. Never, ever digitally transmit anything that you wouldn't want made public, especially in an age of viral media. Pull your horns in when you get the urge, and think how it would look to have a judge read or display it in a court of law, or have your English Lit professor read it out loud in class, or have your grandma show it to your mom, or... whatever.) Somehow, some way, somewhere, some day, somebody you managed to piss off is going to try to use those nekkid pictures and filthy e-mails against you and you'll spend the whole next year fuming and bitching to your friends about how some rat-bastard compromised you.

Hell hath no fury like a rat-bastard with a jpg of you and your vibrator. Play safe.

Unless you're getting $500 and a bunch of internet strangers saying "I loved it!".

Wow, that was impressive.
I can see two different points here, both very valid.
One being I'm even guilty of sexting, but I enjoy it so very much.
It keeps my relationship alive and fun not to mention I post my naked body on this site and promote myself around the internet.
I myself am comfortable with it.
The second being I can see how some one can take it seriously who is not and makes the mistake how much it can complicate their lives.
But unfortunately as I see it this world is a scary place, so is the internet, and only you can take the precautions to keep yourself safe.
Be wise about your decisions.

My wife and I sex monogamously, others should strongly consider the use of a sexting condom or 'wireless jimmy hat' to use the vernacular.

But I haven't even given you my number yet!

Easy solution: Dont give your kids a cell phone. Shit i didnt get one till i was 18 and had a job and i managed just fine.

sext me

ditto.

also, i think those advertisements against sexting blow it way out of proportion. I've had people that i've sexted show my pictures to other friends of mine and it's not a big deal. they see some T&A and say yeah she looks good and that's pretty much it. it's not like you become some crazy infamous online porn-star or naked phenomenon if they're put online or other people see them, like they were trying to make it out to be in the Sarah video.

if it wasn't for sexting, i wouldn't have a sex life

are there any prophylactics to ensure safe sexting?

If you put the phone in a zip loc then you won't get the keypad sticky ... I would guess.

sorry, times are changing. most kids have them. how about simply monitoring our kid's phone use? i think if a parent says to a teen, hey - i'm checking your phone use- (every phone bill lists messages sent/received) and follows through, this would shortly be a non issue. my kid's had a cell phone since he was 7 years old. his cell is a very useful communication tool for our family. he's now 12, and we're not allowing texting yet.

response to the rachel sext PSA above. where's the companion video telling the asshole boyfriend the possible penalties? something along the lines of, hey, besides being an absolute breach of trust and a total dick move to share explicit pix a girl sent you in the heat of the moment, it's also considered being a pornographer. this is another example of how america expects women to take on the burden of someone else's questionable behavior. reminds me of the 'how not to get raped' info on college campuses. how about some 'hey, try not to rape anybody today, mmmkay?' pamphlets. this could be a whole campaign geared towards assholes. 'useful tips on how to avoid jail'

Defintgely a gap staring to form between generations on this one.


I think older generations are just having selective amnesia when it comes to being of an age when all you hormones are screaming at you to rub you naughty bits on something/someone to feel good.

This is no different than the rise in vid captures of teens and other young adults/people in sexually charged endevors after the creation of the webcam.

About the only thing I will agree with is trying to stop underage boys/girls from sexting. As I said above at that age some(not all) kids dont really follow through on the long term understanding of what they are doing, so while jane doe or john doe might feel all tingly and excited sending that photo of herself/himself nude and spread eagle/pants down to her boyfirend/girlfriend other person she/he likes, they might not fully understand just how much that photo will stay with them throughout their school career, especially when it comes to how cruel kids can be to one another and that it can be used as a tool for harrasment and bullying.