SHORT COMMUNICATION 294
Deplorable Teen-Age Behavior
By
Roger Behra
On December 5, 2011, the American media once again put the spotlight on an area of very bad teen-age behavior: teen sexting. It should put parents, who have teen-age boys and girls, in a panic mode. The media concentrated on the ages of 10 to 17. The coverage gave enlightening information and was very informative, but it certainly lacked the full impact of the seriousness of teen sexting. Teen sexting is a serious problem when all the math is done, and the latest research and revelation avoided that.
The recent media report to the general public is quite flawed because it covers the behavior of only teens who volunteered to be part of the study and not the complete 20% of teens in the 10 to 17 age group, which is a large number of teen-agers. So, it stands to reason that the results are flawed.
The teens who volunteered in the recent report said that they have engaged in sexting of complete and explicit nudity, suggestively less graphic photos, and have received photos of either type from both teen boys and girls alike.
When one realizes it, 20% of teen-agers are quite a large number of teen-agers who are involved in very immoral and unlawful behavior. The 20% means only 1 in 5 of all the teen-aged group volunteered. That means 80% of them did not volunteer, so the total number of teens sexting was not revealed. Sexting is a direct result of internet pornography, and both are highly addictive. When a big percentage of the 80% of the 10 to 17 age group is added to the 20% who volunteered, there is, therefore, a big percentage of the 10 to 17 age group involved in sexting and most likely pornography. That is disgraceful, immoral, and unlawful.
All the parents who have their moral compasses pointed in the right direction have to be quite worried and upset for at least four reasons: Sexting is a violation of proper moral principles; sexting can easily lead to teen sexual activity that leads to sexual relations; Sexting is unlawful and can lead to the arrest of a teen; Sexting means that when something is put on line or via cellphone, it can be passed around and is potentially there forever.
Parents, you have to come to a full realization of what is going on in teen culture. You have to realize that any teen is vulnerable, even your own. You have to explain and tell them at an early age all the risks involved and then dutifully diligently monitor their behavior until age nineteen. A teen can fall into the pornography and sexting trap at any age and time. It is a very worrisome time for parents who have children from the ages of 10 to 19. After that it´s their life.
R. B.
12-30-11