Teens say parents oblivious of sexting trend

Albuquerque teens say many parents are still unaware of a potentially dangerous trend involving young people, their cell phones and explicit pictures.

[Dean]

Dumb story, kids will be kids. Let them learn from making their own mistakes, if they don't have common sense enough now about this stuff then they will eventually learn.

[Native New Mexican]

Do parents really set controls on anything now-a-days???

[Sunny Delight]

Dean, unfortunately the decisions the teens make now can affect them the rest of their lives. If it were my child, and I found out they had been sexting, they would no longer have a phone, but before we even got there we would have had rules, including my checking the history of their phone calls, etc, on a regular basis.

[Marv]

Heck - intercept them and put them on the evening news!! That'll stop it in a hurry!!

[Markus Andras]

Marv wrote:

Heck - intercept them and put them on the evening news!! That'll stop it in a hurry!!

That would be a real problem if said teenager is under legal age, however - many of these pictures do end up online where they spread quickly.

See: Any of the 'Chans'.

[Sluggo]

Girls do it for the attention, guys do it because they're DOGS...

Neither seem to realize that once you hit that send button there's no turning back.

My daughter Sluggette has had the talk and understands the ramifications.

[dcc]

Parents set rules and expectations? Are you serious? Aren't you supposed to be your kids BFF? They won't love you if you don't let them do whatever they want. Sarcasm for those of you who don't get it.

Yea, keep justifying those "for emergency" phones. What emergency requires the ability to take pictures? Unlimited texting? Thousands of minutes of talk every month? Spoiled children become spoiled adults who can't conceive of a world where they are not the center of attention. As I laugh I think about the most common response to telling people I chose not to have kids, "boy, I love my kids but if I had it to do over again...".

[Upda Hill]

I'm waiting for the ACLU to step in and say that restrictions against sexting are unconstitutional, since such limits deny the kids their First Amendment right of self-expression.

Sexting is obviously a dangerous practice (aside from being just plain stupid), and if prosecuted under current law, would require both the sender and the recipient to register as sex offenders for the rest of their lives.

Wake up, kids (and, parents)!

[nmrrjw66]

I don't see anything wrong with it. This country needs to get over its nudity phobia already. It's really starting to become pathetic. I can see dudes get shot in the head and killed regularly on TV but god forbid a womans nipple be shown.

America needs to pull its head out of it's butt.
MURDER IS MUCH WORSE THAN SEX!

[Yankee Yahoo]

I see a lot of posts here expecting parents to do something about this.

Everyone seems to forget that all a teen has to do is call CPS and threaten their parents with false claims of abuse.

Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. Especially when it comes to kids.

Want parents to put a stop to this? Then go back to 6000 years of common sense child-rearing and let them take responsibility. Otherwise, this new trend is clearly the responsibility of those who control and empower children ... the state.

[Yankee Yahoo]

nmrrjw66 wrote:

I don't see anything wrong with it. This country needs to get over its nudity phobia already. It's really starting to become pathetic. I can see dudes get shot in the head and killed regularly on TV but god forbid a womans nipple be shown.
America needs to pull its head out of it's butt.
MURDER IS MUCH WORSE THAN SEX!

That is true. I bet they don't have this problem with European teens, where most beaches are nude or topless anyway.

Why is America so prudish? Even the Puritans were not this bad. Puritan men could be chastised by their community for not putting out to their wives.

[cj aragon]

nmrrjw66 wrote:

I don't see anything wrong with it. This country needs to get over its nudity phobia already. It's really starting to become pathetic. I can see dudes get shot in the head and killed regularly on TV but god forbid a womans nipple be shown.
America needs to pull its head out of it's butt.
MURDER IS MUCH WORSE THAN SEX!

I completely disagree.We arent talking about women here we are talking about little girls and boys making irresponsible decisions out youthful ignorance.I hope you realize that what you are seeing on TV is not reality.Its a show with actors & plot lines.The choices that our young people are making are unfortunately not,and the paralell that you are attempting to make is quite appalling.I'm sure pedophiles & deviants everywhere are in complete agreement.

[Yankee Yahoo]

dcc wrote:

Parents set rules and expectations? Are you serious? Aren't you supposed to be your kids BFF? They won't love you if you don't let them do whatever they want. Sarcasm for those of you who don't get it.
Yea, keep justifying those "for emergency" phones. What emergency requires the ability to take pictures? Unlimited texting? Thousands of minutes of talk every month? Spoiled children become spoiled adults who can't conceive of a world where they are not the center of attention. As I laugh I think about the most common response to telling people I chose not to have kids, "boy, I love my kids but if I had it to do over again...".

Yep, my two sons, not even teenagers yet, are already feeling the pressure of not having phones.

"Dude! You don't have a cell phone!" I overheard one of their friends ask.

You got to be kidding me. Why ARE parents buying cell phones? Is this why the economy is in the dump, because so many buy crap they don't need and are seduced by delusions of Corporate America?

[Get That Fool]

Native New Mexican wrote:

Do parents really set controls on anything now-a-days???

No, they don't. It's a shame how people are too lazy or afraid to "parent" these days. Get them phones without cameras!

[RDRM]

Are these nude photos of themselves or porn they are getting from the internet? If it's of themselves then it's definitely wrong and parents need to be aware, look out for it and hopefully give consequences if/when they find it. If it's from the internet....well, what can you do? A parent can block those sites in their own home but not all parents do this. I understand teens are hormonal and curious about sex, but ignoring sexting is all but condoning whatever may come from it.

[Get That Fool]

nmrrjw66 wrote:

I don't see anything wrong with it. This country needs to get over its nudity phobia already. It's really starting to become pathetic. I can see dudes get shot in the head and killed regularly on TV but god forbid a womans nipple be shown.
America needs to pull its head out of it's butt.
MURDER IS MUCH WORSE THAN SEX!

Do you see anything wrong with teenage pregnancy? Do you see anything wrong with AIDS?

[RDRM]

Yankee Yahoo wrote:

<quoted text>
Yep, my two sons, not even teenagers yet, are already feeling the pressure of not having phones.
"Dude! You don't have a cell phone!" I overheard one of their friends ask.
You got to be kidding me. Why ARE parents buying cell phones? Is this why the economy is in the dump, because so many buy crap they don't need and are seduced by delusions of Corporate America?

I agree! My 8 year old niece has asked for a cell phone for Christmas for the past couple of years. Has not and will not get one....what could kids possibly be doing when they text 24/7? Probably doing things like sexting. There is only so much 'hey what's up' you can text before you move on to other things.

[cj aragon]

Yankee Yahoo wrote:

<quoted text>
That is true. I bet they don't have this problem with European teens, where most beaches are nude or topless anyway.
Why is America so prudish? Even the Puritans were not this bad. Puritan men could be chastised by their community for not putting out to their wives.

Completely misinformed.Research the subject my frind the puritanical belief system was a "bit" more rigid.While seeking conformance to the bible to the smallest detail they believed in the weight of "the original sin" that one couldn't escape.They abhorred drama as it was immoral,eliminated musical instruments as they were secular.No celebration of traditional holidays,need I continue.This is about parenting your children,setting boundries and helping a child understand the ramifications of bad decisions that a young person may not yet understand.its not about getting everyone to parade around naked for the sake of being naked.

[Thinking]

I think there is a difference between a phone and a camera phone. I can see the advantages of having a phone. But if the kids want it get them a basic phone, no camera, no texting.

Tell them if they want more they will have to work and pay for the entire bill each month but still have limitations.

Text monitoring would be nice where text message are copied to another number automatically when received or sent. same way with pictures.

[nmrrjw66]

Get That Fool wrote:

<quoted text>
Do you see anything wrong with teenage pregnancy? Do you see anything wrong with AIDS?

Yes I do but what does either of those have to do with kids sending pictures of themselves with their phones. Teen Pregnancy and AIDS has more to do with christians preventing kids from getting the proper sex ed.