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| -Short Attention Span Theater- | |
| Teens bare all on phones | |
| 2009-01-15 | |
| Reasonable solution: Cell phone without a camera. Total solution: Get rid of all your kid's friends' cell phones, too. Partial solution: Get on-line and block picture messaging on your kid's phone if your service allows it. And check it periodically to make sure your kid didn't call in as you and unblock it. Many parents seem to get along on the idea that their kid is exempt. It's becoming a social-acceptance ritual. Fifty percent participation rate in some schools. Do you know which side of the line your kid falls on? Or are you just pretty sure? Personally, I'm going to tell my daughter that I have friends who work for the CIA and they can tap into her boyfriend's phone and look at the pictures stored there. In the Cincinnati area, where legend holds that trends come 10 years late, "sexting" arrived well ahead of time. Teens here are taking nude photos of themselves or others, sending them on their cell phones or posting them online. Some teens do it as a joke. For others, it's the new bold pickup line to get a date. A year ago, a 19-year-old Goshen cheerleading coach was charged and prosecuted for a misdemeanor, contributing to the unruliness of a child, for taking a topless photo of herself and a 15-year-old girl. A Glen Este Middle School boy was taken to juvenile court during the last school year for taking explicit photos of his girlfriend. The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy and CosmoGirl.com last month revealed results of a study that showed 20 percent of teens say they have sent or posted nude or semi-nude pictures or video of themselves. The results don't surprise local teens, school officials, police officers and others. "If I were to go through the cell phones in this building right now of 1,500 students, I would venture to say that half to two-thirds have indecent photos, either of themselves or somebody else in school," said Jim Brown, school resource officer at Glen Este High School. Turpin High School Principal Peggy Johnson thinks that the results would be similar - about 50-50 - in her building. According to the national study, most teens who send sexually suggestive content send to boyfriends or girlfriends, while others say they send such material to those they want to date or hook up with or to someone they only know online. Brown, who also is Glen Este Middle School's resource officer, said of the 14-year-old boy's cell phone photos last year: "They were as graphic as you would see in any Penthouse magazine, I've been told." The study also showed that 44 percent of teens say it's common for sexually explicit images and text messages - sexting - to be shared with people other than the intended recipient. "Guys who get pictures like this from girls, I don't think girls understand that guys gossip way more than girls," said Taylor McCleod, 17, a Withrow University High School senior who is a teen leader for the Postponing Sexual Involvement program. "And when a guy gets a picture like that, he's not just going to keep it between him and the girl. He's going to take that and show every guy that he knows that knows that girl. And every time somebody looks at her, it's going to be a loss of respect for her." The stakes of taking and sending sexually explicit photos can be high, compared to the thrill at the time. The consequences can range from humiliation to losing out on jobs to going to court. When kids are 14 or 15, Brown said, they don't often make the right decisions.
Kids have lost scholarships and jobs because of what's posted on Web sites, Brown said. Many kids have "wised up," taking photos of body parts, but not faces, to avoid detection. And while some teens intend for the suggestive photos to be seen by only one person, they might not think those photos will be forwarded or that something posted on the Internet lives on. "I don't think it even crosses their mind," Daniel "Woody" Breyer, chief deputy prosecutor in Clermont County, said. "I think that kids are in the moment. What's going to happen today? What are we doing tonight? What are we doing this weekend?" Going to court might not cross their minds, either. Prosecutors evaluate the intent of the photo when deciding if charges are warranted. "If this is clearly just a joke and everyone involved thinks it's funny, now somebody's mom sees it and gets mad. Technically, a charge could be filed," said Julie Wilson, chief assistant prosecutor and public information officer for the Hamilton County Prosecutor's Office. "We're asking police to evaluate if it's a criminal charge or a matter that could be handled by the school or parents. For whatever reason, we have not seen a lot of these cases." With so many implications, why do kids do it? Besides peer pressure, the practice is provoked by what's considered acceptable in this culture, Breyer said, citing videos, such as "Girls Gone Wild." "What is acceptable behavior in our country has just gone through the floor," Breyer said. Christopher Kraus, director of the Postponing Sexual Involvement program at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, said that in his 20 years of working in adolescent medicine at the hospital, he's yet to see a teenage trend that does not mirror a larger adult trend. "Adolescent sexuality is part of normal human development," Kraus said. "Teens are trying to figure out how to express their sexuality appropriately. They are learning, and they are learning from adults." Kraus, who also is project manager for the Ohio Department of Health's new Guidelines for Sexual Health and Adoption Education, Grades 7-12, said teens are learning how to sort out many sexual messages in the media, including text messages. "Some messages are complimentary. Some are offensive. Some are confusing. Each message is different." Another teen Postponing Sexual Involvement leader, Mariah McCollum, who has received unwanted and unsolicited photos from an acquaintance, talked about the trend. "Every day or every other day, I hear about a new video of one of my peers. There's a new video going around involving sexual activities," said Mariah, a 17-year-old senior at Withrow University High School. "I think it's pretty lame for a male to send you pictures without consent. ... Who says I want to see your private areas?" Mariah said, adding that she lost a lot of respect for the boy who sent it. Meanwhile, Brown said parents need to pay attention to their kids' use of technology. Part of the problem is that kids' inhibitions are knocked away by alcohol-fueled parties, where many sexually explicit photo opportunities occur, he said. "It's 'Kids Gone Wild,' with technology being provided by the parents," he said. No, you can't have a beer! That would be irresponsible of me as a parent! But you can have a picture-phone. Use it responsibly, dear. | |
| Posted by:gorb |
| #31 Lol! You got a date Wednesday, Baby! Whoo! |
| Posted by: Mike N. 2009-01-15 23:48 |
| #30 Frank put the camera down and back away slowly. We dont want Deacon falling off Ace tonight. |
| Posted by: 49 Pan 2009-01-15 22:54 |
| #29 DB - if you want, I can send you a pic, so you won't feel left out? You'll just feel....disturbed. For a long time. Email me your cell #, LOL |
| Posted by: Frank G 2009-01-15 21:45 |
| #28 Where was this when I was a teenager? Then again, if you knew the right people you got it live and in person. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2009-01-15 21:16 |
| #27 Barbara, exactly. When the hiring manager says "I don't recognize the face but the ... rest of you looks familiar" |
| Posted by: Rambler in Virginia 2009-01-15 21:05 |
| #26 What!? No tantalizing pics or links? How unRantburg like. |
| Posted by: Cromong Turkeyneck3690 2009-01-15 20:06 |
| #25 "Teens here are taking nude photos of themselves [and] posting them online" Don't worry - they'll soon see the error of their ways. When they start applying for jobs.... :-D |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2009-01-15 18:57 |
| #24 Hmm..rj..if you click on the link in #10, it's already started. Never ever get a phone with imagery capability, if you're taken down for any reason, it just takes someone else to 'send' one to your device for your life to be significantly altered when they 'accidently' access it during a |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2009-01-15 17:38 |
| #23 Speaking of the Dude, and his bowling friend the sex-offender Jesus... Since many of these kids are below 18 but some are above the line at some point an over-eager adult will get involved and someone is gonna get branded for life as a sex criminal. Crazy and over the top but i think it's a matter of time. Perhaps that will put an end to this nonsense. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2009-01-15 16:53 |
| #22 "TW, you do have friends in odd places" And the TD have met some of them. ;-p |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2009-01-15 14:34 |
| #21 @ #15 Mike N. Next to come : dudette! Then, I'll stop. I guess you have to blame 1) Jeff Bridges and 2) even before that, Steve "The Dude" Rude, the best Jack Kirby-like the 90's could give to us comics geeks. |
| Posted by: anonymous5089 2009-01-15 13:49 |
| #20 anonymous, i also do not own a cell phone. and i'm only 30. I t always seemed too wring when i was about 40 foot in the air on top of a house so now it is Lake Keowee in SC. gOOD RIDDANCE AND IT WAS LIKE DROPPING A DRUG HABIT |
| Posted by: rabid whitetail 2009-01-15 13:44 |
| #19 For older folks, getting pics of actual home cooked meals would be torture. For most of these youngsters, their parents feed them out of boxes, so home cooked meals would be alien to them really. Home cooked meals are the best though. |
| Posted by: Silentbrick 2009-01-15 13:31 |
| #18 Heh. Now if I could pictures of some steak and taters, I'd immediately drop what I was doing. That's what this culture needs, a disturbing new trend of females sending pictures of home cooked meals. |
| Posted by: Mike N. 2009-01-15 13:21 |
| #17 Kids, they're so immature. At 30 I find myself annoyed when I get booby or other such pics. The first 3 were sufficient. I get the point. |
| Posted by: Mike N. 2009-01-15 13:18 |
| #16 Cel phones are not the problem. Kids left unsupervised is the issue here. Kids used to sneak off to spin the bottle, truth or dare, and moms nightmare, 7 minutes in heaven! Now its half monties and text sex. What next! No matter what it is, supervising kids, holding them accountable, and teaching them what is not acceptable is the answer. My 12 and 14 year olds both have phones. I make them carry them every time they leave the house, they answer when I call or get grounded for a week. We monitor their texting, pictures, facepage, youtube, emails, and computer games. They keep all their passwords in a list for us, or the electronics go away. My kids think I'm over the top and a Nazi about it. I tell them its good parenting and they will understand when they are older. I find myself sounding more and more like my dad. |
| Posted by: 49 Pan 2009-01-15 12:51 |
| #15 I must say, a Frenchman using the word Dude has made my day a brighter one. |
| Posted by: Mike N. 2009-01-15 12:41 |
| #14 My 5 year old doesn't want a cell phone yet but has asked for a subscription to Playboy. |
| Posted by: Jack is Back 2009-01-15 12:40 |
| #13 Kids do not need cell phones. Young people can have cell phones when they are able to pay for it themselves and are old enough to legally sign a contract. |
| Posted by: Spats Unorong5280 2009-01-15 12:15 |
| #12 Dude, am I the last person on earth who does not own a cell phone, and has no intention whatsoever of getting one? Even for the nudie pics, which should tell you how little I want one. |
| Posted by: anonymous5089 2009-01-15 11:46 |
| #11 TW - I would even go so far as to say you have odd friends in odd places :). |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2009-01-15 11:21 |
| #10 Funny till this happens. Know of any DA with a lack of a sense of perspective or running for reelection? |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2009-01-15 10:23 |
| #9 TW, you do have friends in odd places:) |
| Posted by: Spot 2009-01-15 10:05 |
| #8 "Teens here are taking nude photos of themselves or others..." Hopefully their not doing it in front of thier kids. |
| Posted by: DepotGuy 2009-01-15 08:42 |
| #7 Spoiled kids acting that way. I had to discuss with 2/3rds of my daughters what they were not permitted to post on their Facebook pages, and why. Then I monitored for a bit, with their knowledge. I like gorb's "friends in the CIA" idea, too -- the daughters think I am about as naively innocent as a human can be and still walk upright, but they believe I have interesting friends in odd places. ;-) |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2009-01-15 08:35 |
| #6 Shame works. Dear Step-daughter's (16) pic of her upper 'half-monty' from her phone was shown around the dinner table by her mother. Horrified looks all around. My sons didn't know whether to scream or pass out. Her mom goes through daughter's pics and texts every day - we are pretty sure the problem has gone away. Note to self - do not cross swords with her mom. |
| Posted by: GORT 2009-01-15 08:23 |
| #5 wow.. everyone always seems to be so surprised that teens when unsupervised and left without guidance act like horny heathens. who would have ever thunk it |
| Posted by: Abu do you love 2009-01-15 08:04 |
| #4 Take away the phone and they'll just strip off in each others rooms. |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2009-01-15 07:57 |
| #3 Kids are stupid and horny now, kids were stupid and horny long ago, kids will be stupid and horny in the future. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2009-01-15 07:24 |
| #2 g(r)omgoru, I take it you don't have a daughter who's been stalked for months as a result of something stupid she did at 15. |
| Posted by: lotp 2009-01-15 06:47 |
| #1 Now that's horrible---the end of the World is near. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2009-01-15 06:18 |