Sexting: Think Twice Before Pressing Send
Sep 8th, 2009 | By Jessica Dobias | Category: Courtroom Technology, Featured, First Year, Law School, Lead Article, Practice Management, Social MediaWhat is sexting?
Sexting is transmitting a sexually explicit photo via text, computer, and/or another electronic device to another person. For example, your significant other can’t come over tonight, so you send them via text, email, IM, social networking site, etc. a message with indecent photos or videos attached. This is sexting.
Sexting and Teens
An 18-year-old Vermont teen, Isaac Owusu, was just sentenced to two years in prison after he instructed two of his female friends to videotape themselves performing sexual acts. You can read the full story here. Those who engage in the activity of “sexting” with minors can be charged as a sex offender, charged with distribution of child pornography, possession of child pornography and sentenced to a hefty prison term. So why do so many teens engage in “sexting”?
“All my role models do it.” Ah. Those all so “sweet” role models for young adults and teens have recently found themselves in some compromising situations. For example, Vanessa Hudgens, Rhianna, Katy Perry, and Twilight Star Ashley Green all were members of the “sexting” club and had their photos plastered all over gossip blogs and news reports across the nation. As if watching the consequences of their actions wasn’t enough, teens across the nation continue to engage in the “sexting” craze.
But the real issue isn’t so much sexting between teens (meaning two underage individuals). The issue is what happens to those photos or videos after they’ve been received. What happens when the receiver decides to share the photo or video with friends or post the photo or video to Facebook, Twitter, Bebo or Myspace? The repercussions of such actions could result in charges such as distribution of child pornography, possession of child pornography and the label of sex offender with the requirement of sex offender registration.
Once those photos or videos are shared, each person passes on the photos or videos can also be charged with distribution and possession of child pornography. Distributors may also gain sex offender status depending on the length of time the content is in their possession and the nature of the images. Not only does the potential for criminal charges and sex offender status worry parents and adults, its the availability of these photos and videos to “real sex offenders” that worries them.
As if the idea of “real sex offenders” handling these photos and videos wasn’t scary enough, the number of teens who participate in sexting is growing. Twenty percent of teens admit they have participated in “sexting” and a report by the Guardian, stated that 38% of teens they interviewed admitted to sexting. A year and a half ago Jesse Long, an 18-year-old teen living in Ohio, hanged herself after her ex-boyfriend distributed Long’s nude photos at school. Long was harassed and called demeaning names by classmates. You can read the full story here.
“Dr. Hera Cook a lecturer in the history of sexuality at the University of Bringham says the tragedy shows that children must be taught that it is OK to refuse something they are uncomfortable with at an earlier age. ‘If we don’t give children the right to say no, we cannot expect them to then be able to say no when we want them to. We don’t allow them autonomy and when they suddenly find themselves in a situation of conflict, where we want them to have autonomy, they don’t know how to do it.’” – The Guardian.
If Dr. Cook is right and children just don’t feel comfortable saying no, then why do so many adults participate in sexting when there are some pretty high consequences? It’s evident that the effects of sexting for teens can have devastating consequences for the teens who send the photos and those who receive the photos. What about the effect of sexting on adults?
Sexting and Generation Y
So what’s the big deal? We’re two adults. We’re in college. Law school. We just graduated. We are young professionals. My significant other lives in California and I live in Connecticut. I don’t get it, why not?
Well, the simple answer is a question. Would you send that photo to your professor or boss? Then you probably shouldn’t send it to your significant other. Think about the consequences of “if and when things go sour”. There are far too many outlets where Mr. Charming or Ms. Perfect can vent their distaste for you and where a future employer can easily find those photos or videos.
Professor S. Craig Watkins at the University of Texas at Austin was interviewed by the GoCollege Blog in which he stated he saw no problem with universities and admissions offices using social networks as a way for screening applicants. Professor Watkins also expressed the following in regards to graduating job applicants:
“Graduating students, one of the things that they indicated is that when they went out for interviews for jobs, one of the first thing they were asked is, ‘Are you on MySpace?’ or, ‘Are you on Facebook?’ Their potential employers wanted to get access to their profiles.”
Potential employers want to know who you are and want to know they’ve made the right choice in hiring you. As Professor Watkins expressed, think of yourself as a personal brand – when you post content online it affects the way people perceive your brand: the good and the bad.
Young professionals should not only be concerned about what they post to their own personal websites and profiles, they should also be concerned what others post about them. Why give anyone the opportunity to post an indecent photo or video of you?
There may be no criminal offense in sending your significant other a naughty photo or video, but what if your photo is shared with a minor via a popular social networking site? Do you want to write on your Character and Fitness Evaluation for the Bar Exam that you had a Class A Misdemeanor for Distributing Obscene Material to a Minor?
I don’t. I suggest thinking twice before pressing send.
Related posts:
- Podcast Ipsa Loquitur: Branding, Twitter Apathy, and Sexting
- Locating Sex Offenders from Your iPhone
- New Site Mixes Trial Advocacy and Online Education
- YouTube Hack: How to Link Anywhere in a YouTube Video
- iPhone Security: Protect or Prohibit?
- Social Media Law Student Blog Featured in ABA Journal “Law Firm Websites That Work”
- Twitter Party Is Just Beginning
- When to use Google Wave
- All Things ABA TECHSHOW 2009 (Day 1)
- New Jersey Judiciary Now Tweeting
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Jessica Dobias. Jessica Dobias said: Sexting: Think Twice Before Pressing Send http://bit.ly/1830sR [...]
This really seems like fear-mongering in the adult adult scenario. We all send pictures via email to our partners when they are away on trips, its part of how we remain connected. Is it risky, yeah its risky like having sex without a condom from a supposidly commited partner or crossing the road and a drunk hits you. Shit happens and we can’t always control it, but you shouldn’t run your whole life over what could happen, it seems irrational and ‘fearmongering’.
Just my thoughts on the adult adult scenario.
On the teenager scenario, it just reminds me of how sick American laws are and how much effort needs to be put into reforming them. When an 18 yr old goes to jail for 2 yrs like that, something is wrong – clearly. So in essence your advice there is reasonable because a sex offence is so incredibly crippling to ones future.
Cheers
R.
[Reply]
Jessica Dobias
Reply:
September 20th, 2009 at 8:44 pm
I found your comment refreshing to say the least. As the author of this article and a law student, I feel I have an obligation to inform my readers of what could happen. But you’re right: Shit happens. But I’d rather know what could happen instead of tip toeing around the law hoping it doesn’t come back to bite me in the ass. Unfortunately, ignorance of the law isn’t an excuse.
The reality of the situation is, people love to send nude/half-nude photos to their partners via text or email and they can forget the consequences of their actions. Unfortunately, the internet doesn’t always afford us with the luxury of privacy. People in the professional world look up public social networking profiles to evaluate candidates for positions and for the Bar. I’d like to direct you to the latest news from the Florida Bar Association: http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/dpp/news/state/Facebook_background_checks_091709
My goal for writing this article was to inform and educate, not to induce fear. I’ve invested a great deal of time and energy into my law school career and I can imagine the readers of this website have as well. It would be devastating to spend 4 years in college and another 3 years in law school only to find out you won’t be admitted to the Bar because you made a stupid, irrational mistake and the Bar found out by stalking you on Facebook. Oops just doesn’t quite cover it.
[Reply]
Roger Kondrat
Reply:
September 21st, 2009 at 7:17 am
Oooops never covers it, but anything bad can be ascribed to ooops in hindsight. Oooops I decided to drink more than 3 beers and walk home (hit by a car), oooops I didn’t change those tires Oct 1st like I ‘supposed’ to in preparation for winter (dies in freak October snow storm). Yes these things you mention can happen. Like leaving our doors unlocked in Canada, people do break in (or walk in if they are unlocked) and after the fact we think, ooops.
That being said, yes the education value is still strongly represented in your article and its appreciated.
Finally I would like to say there are ways of controlling Facebook access and managing your reputation through the tools provided on Facebook. In fact if you liked, I could either write a post on our blog and comment a link on here or guest post a blog post about it on your site.
Would be a great follow up to article and that is my area of expertise.
Thoughts?
R.
[Reply]
Jessica Dobias
Reply:
September 26th, 2009 at 9:48 am
Thank you for your the offer. I actually just wrote a post on behavioral advertising where I linked to several websites helping individuals un-share information they don’t want to be spread across the internet. I think that will be sufficient in helping people protect their private information on whatever social media they choose to invest private information in.
Thank you for commenting and I enjoy your feedback and the discussion on the article.
What a great post! Thanks so much. As a parent of 2 teens who have had cell phones for most of their teen-lives, I appreciated this information
[Reply]
[...] wrote an article for Social Media Law Student a few weeks ago on Sexting and I’d like to expand on my thoughts towards sexting and Speech Regulation in the name of [...]
Great post. This issue has become so prevalent within the past two years; and it will only gain more media attention in the near future. In Pennsylvania there is a case pending over photos of two 12 year-old-girls in training bras. The one girl (now 16 years old) is still in the process of defending herself.
A federal appeals court in Philadelphia is close to deciding on whether another girl could be prosecuted under the Pennsylvania child pornography laws for a “sexting” photo.
[Reply]