"Another one sexting Sarge. Chuck him in the
back with the others."
Last week Channel 4 News ran a piece about the latest teenage craze of 'sexting'. It involves young people sending each other naked photographs of themselves.
Rather than being shocked by this behaviour I was saddened listening to the youngsters responses to Jon Snow's questions.
Porn is available to all on the internet and it seems some young boys (the majority are males) readily access these sites and become to believe that material displayed is the norm.
An extract from the Channel 4 investigation:
What shocked me was not that this was happening, but the scale that it was on from early teen years. Girls are bombarded almost on a daily basis with requests for what are simply now called "pictures". Boys collect the various naked photos in an album as a sort of trophy. Girls receive unrequested photos of boys' private parts. Boys send sex lists with smiley faces asking girls what they would do. Often they don't even know each other, or have never even met.
"It just happens. It's normal," was the common response. It seems this is the new way of flirting, and the modern way of playground dating.
Sex education is schools has let our children down. The do-gooders who celebrated getting explicit sexual material into schools should hang their heads in shame. Many protested about the content of the information provided but were cast aside and labelled prudes, yet more and more boys are accessing porn.
There's nothing shameful about the naked body and I'd seen a naked male body every night of my life until the age of 10, when my parents finally moved to a house where I had a bedroom of my own. Seeing my brother undressing or dressing held no fascination for me as a child and neither of us was embarrassed. I would have been uncomfortable with my teacher explaining the sexual uses of the male and female body at a young age though, but that is what has been happening in our schools for a couple of decades.
Now, with the use of technology, children have taken the information a step further, as children usually do and our professional educators appear to have decided to ignore the problem.
As the article states, some children affected by the constant demands for naked photos, are carving for adults to discuss it with them. I'm sure, until this was exposed, many parents and grandparents (including myself) had no clue about this latest use of mobile phones - I refuse to term it flirting because that involves a degree of emotion by at least one party - but they do now and it's their responsibility to ensure they talk with their child and listen to their concerns.
So, initially it's the responsibility of parents to open the dialogue, but also teachers have a part to play by ensuring they warn their pupils about the dangers of being involved in sending naked photographs of themselves. Perhaps the best message I would give them is: 'Where sex is concerned people can become unscrupulous and if you don't want to chance seeing your naked picture shown in cyberspace don't send it. Remember, if a boy has your mobile number then they possibly have your name and other information about you, even if they are strangers to you.'
A simple message and one which should be relayed by teachers as soon as possible in an effort to stem the growth of this distasteful craze.
A simple message and one which should be relayed by teachers as soon as possible in an effort to stem the growth of this distasteful craze.
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