Sexting Laws - Coursework Example

Sexting Laws Name Institution Sexting Laws Sexting can be termed as the act of sending and receiving explicit messages, video and photos between individuals with mobile phones, computer or other device (Argudin, Maguire and Tallon, 2010). Sending and receiving explicit contents has been around for many years now, what have changed is the availability of technology that broadcast content virally and the permanence of these contents in devices (Alexander, 2010). Sexting is considered a crime depending on the age of the parties involved in sexting. It is a crime to send or receive suggestive pictures and messages of a person under the age of 18. Sexting issue has attracted the interest of the media. According to National Campaign of Preventing Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, in the United States, it was reported that about 20% of teenagers sexted in 2008 (Coz Communications, 2009). By maintaining that sexting is a misdemeanour offence, the laws and regulations in the United States establish that minors should not have the right to sext. Sexting among young people should be considered illegal and the legislation should establish it as a societal concern. This essay will analyse sexting and why it should be prohibited and why legislation should address societal concerns on sexting to protect young generation. Sexting involving teenagers can lead to sexual behaviours. Sexting among minors should raise concern among parents and guardians since research studies have shown that young people who have sexted are five times more prone to engage in sexual behaviours (Walczak, Burch and Kreimer, 2009). In addition, the studies have also established that girls, who take part in sending explicit messages and pictures are more prone to engaging in unprotected sex, indulge in alcoholism and drug abuse and re likely to have multiple sex partners (Shade, 2007). It is clear that engaging in unprotected sex may result to pregnancy and sexual transmitted diseases. This may have serious consequences on teens. Consequently, the legislation should take matters concerning sexting very seriously and laws should be established to curb such behaviours among young people (Sexting, 2012). Sexting should be considered illegal as it can lead to dangers and violations like child pornography, bullying, harassment and stalking (Powell, 2010). When sexting involves a minor, it is very likely that the people involved will be charged with ownership of child pornography (CNN Prime News, 2009). One of the major concerns for students in schools is bullying. Bullying can be in the form of sending sext messages and images to other students through mass texting (Hasinoff, 2015). Sexting therefore results to bullying different colleges and schools. In addition, sexting can result to behaviours such as harassment and stalking (Meyer, 2009). This can happen when the explicit pictures and videos end up in the hands of sexual predators. Sexting in some instances can place an individual in danger the same way abuses are enacted through internet dating sites (Slane, 2010). Therefore, sexting among young people should raise legislation concern and should be considered illegal since they increase the likelihood of dangerous and violent incidences. Unlike a personal journal, the internet is far from being private and thus the likely for sexting to be private is minimal (Searcey, 2009). Everything posted on the internet tend to stay in the cyberspace permanently. This means that there are no take-backs once a message, video or pictures are uploaded on the internet. Employers, scholarship providers as well as excellent collages are always going over for potential applicants for their online footprint to fill the respective positions (Greenberg, 2010). They often want to know what type of online reputation an individual has created. Therefore, a teen can miss a chance to get into a dream collage or employment as a result of bad reputation in the internet. An individual may think that their explicit images will not be seen by other people, but that’s not always the case. A study has shown that 36% of minors have illustrated that it is very common for images to be shared even after they have been deleted (Gatti, 2009). In order to save the futures of young people, sexting should be made illegal because control of any image on the cyberspace is almost impossible. A consensus has come up that legal bodies are supposed to control the issues of sexting (Lenhart, 2009). Several legal analysts say that felony charges should be imposed on sexting involving a minor. However, some argue that sexting penalty should be reduced since it is a matter of choice and not forcefulness. The argument is centred on the fact that young people should have the right to sext (Shade, 2007). Giving minor the right to sext is said to be helpful in reducing the likelihood for unfair prosecutions and assisting people avoid blaming victims of sexting. Nevertheless, although sexting is a choice of an individual, the consequences that come with it are severe and thus legal bodies should take the responsibility of preventing such consequences (Slane, 2010). Conversely, sexting is risky and be considered illegal among the young people. Sexting should be a punishable offence since sexually explicit pictures of teens, irrespective of the situation in which they were produced, could promote adult’s sexual abuse of young people (Shade, 2007). Adult abusers may have been encouraged by watching minor’s self-created pictures or videos without any permission from the party involved. For instance, some legal analysts argue that legal punishment should be imposed on the case of a minor who posts sexually explicit pictures of herself on the internet (Perrotti and Westheimer, 2001). They argue that it is not a crime against only one person. This is because, while those images may not have had an effect on her, it led to culprits to look for more images of minors. This puts more young people at risk as victims. Punishment for sexting is considered an effort to protect the teenagers from objectification. Critics, however argue that the possibility that sexting may lead to abuser’s fantasies is minimal and thus is not a good idea to prohibit this practice. However, proponents say that the prohibition of sexting is necessary since regardless of the likelihood of abuser’s fantasies, it brings about more bad than good. Therefore, laws against sexting can assist in protecting the minors from others and from themselves. In addition, there is worry that sexting of explicit images may enter the child pornography market (Slovic, 2010). Sexting should be prohibited and prevented since adults taking part in the child pornography market often hurt minors down who post explicit pictures and images on the internet (Blanchard, 2008). They end up taking advantage of them and woe them into engaging in child pornography. When a minor takes a nude picture and posts in online or share with people, it is likely that she will be hunted by predators (Wolak et al., 2008). Child pornography is reported to have grown tremendously partly due to sexting of explicit videos and images on the internet (NCPTUP, 2008). In order to reduce child pornography therefore, sexting involving minors should be punished by law. To sum up, a significant number of young people today are sexting and this has been linked to negative consequences. For instance, sexting tend to increase the likelihood of minor to engage in sexual activities. Also, child pornography is growing so fast, partly due to sexting since adults taking part in child pornography tend to take advantage of these minors and woe them into this immoral business. Sexting leads to violence behaviours such as bullying especially among schools. In addition, sexting may ruin a teen’s future as it can hinder one to get into a good college or acquire scholarship. Therefore, it is necessary for sexting to be prohibited among the young people in order to protect teens from themselves and from others. References Alexander, M. (2010). The new Jim Crow: Mass incarceration in the age of colorblindness. New York: The New Press. Blanchard, J. (2008, November 21 ). Cheerleaders' parents sue in nude photos incident: Two were the only ones suspended. Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Cox Communications. (2009, May). Teen online and wireless safety survey: Cyberbullying, sexting, and parental controls. Atlanta, GA: Cox Communications, National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, and John Walsh. Gatti, J. (2009). The MTV-Associated digital abuse study: A Thin Line [Report]. Retrieved from http://www.athinline.org/MTV-AP Digital_Abuse_Study Full.pdf Greenberg, P. (2010, March 15). 2010 legislation related to "sexting." National Conference of State Legislatures: Issues & Research. Retrieved from http://www.ncsl.org/default.aspx?Tabid=19696 Hasinoff, A. A. (2015). Sexting: The politics of sexuality and social media. Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Press. Lenhart, A. (2009, December 15). Teens and sexting: How and why minor teens are sending sexually suggestive nude or nearly nude images via text messaging. Pew Internet & American Life Project. Retrieved from http:/ /pewresearch.org/ assets/pdf/teens-and -sexting. pdf Meyer, E. J. (2009). Gender, bullying, and harassment: Strategies to end sexism and homophobia in schools. New York: Teachers College Press. 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Retrieved from http:/ /www.aclupa.org/ downloads/MillerComplaintfinal. pdf Wolak, J., Finkelhor, D., Mitchell, K., & Ybarra, M. (2008). Online "predators" and their victims: Myths, Realities, and implications for prevention treatment. American Psychologist, 63(2), 111-128. Read More