Essay:The Sexting Issue

by Summerdays

It bugs me that whenever someone is "brave" enough to tackle the sexting issue - though they are correct to conclude that charging these kids under "child pornography" laws is inappropriate - they inevitably work from the assumption that sexting is still a dangerous, and even stupid, activity for kids to be engaging in. Sure, it's dangerous considering the potential repercussions, and it's right to argue that punishing it as a felony is overkill, but they don't continue that thought to its logical conclusion - that is, that the reason sexting is dangerous is because we punish it so harshly, and because we frown upon it so strongly (which results in all the shaming and bullying).

The solution to the sexting "problem" isn't some impossible method of preventing all kids from ever engaging in sexting - because the truth is, no matter what we do, some kids will sext: and that's not a bad thing. The "solution" is not to stop kids from sexting, but to find a way for those of us who hate it so much to learn how to tolerate it. The immature approach is to try to control your environment, to change it to suit your whims. The mature approach is to learn to accept the way things are, and find a way to come to terms with that fact.

And along that line, can you imagine how many people would be happier if we made sexting into an accepted (whether encouraged or not) activity? Do these people realize how much misery they're propagating by their suppression of the natural physical beauty of youth? They convince themselves that what they're doing prevents evil (i.e., actual rape) from occurring, but that's bogus.

I just wish I had a way to convince a person that appreciating the erotic beauty of youth can 1) be a very positive and life-affirming activity, and 2) have absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with rape. I just hate that in this context (whenever minors are involved), they - that is, those who control the dominant paradigm - have the power to disguise supreme good (consensual sexuality) as supreme evil (physical and/or psychological violence, that just happens to have sexuality as a component). To put it in other words, they are able to clothe proper sexual 'use' in the rags of 'abuse', so that there no longer is 'sex', there is only 'rape.'

What a dismal world they must live in. Why must they make us suffer along with them, only because they lack the ability to see the light in the world that surrounds them? If I were to put a beautiful naked child in front of them, they would not praise the heavens like they should, but their minds would be consumed with dark and sinister thoughts, and they would be filled with the desire to destroy the lives of anyone who doesn't think like them. And we're the ones with the mental disorder?

In regards to this paper on sexting:

inappropriate and unsafe activity", "short-sighted adolescents", "poor judgment", "vulnerable teens", "youthful lapse in judgment", "inappropriate...images

The language here is highly judgmental, and betrays exactly the approach I mentioned above. The author is saying, "the way we're dealing with sexting is out of control, but sexting is still bad and needs to be discouraged." Which, ironically, propagates the problem.

The issue of how to legally approach teenagers caught sexting and ultimately discourage this practice is a modern legal dilemma.

Why should the practice be discouraged? If we encouraged it, it would no longer be dangerous.

...while establishing a national standard to judge this activity.

Why should we even have a national standard to judge this activity? Who's to say that judging this activity as immoral and inadvisable is the proper judgment anyway? And why should the law be making moral judgments in the first place?

Pornography laws presently in place could be used to continue to protect America's youth from predators.

Pornography laws should not be used to protect anyone from predators. Laws against demonstrably predatory behavior should be used to protect people from predators. Pornography is a form of speech (that ought to be protected). Violence and coercion are forms of [usually illegal] behavior. Heed the difference.

Society has come to recognize that teens and technology are a dangerous combination, and as responsible adults, we must teach teens that an act as simple as pressing the 'send' button on a cell phone can lead to a lifetime of legal and moral complications.

As responsible adults, shouldn't we instead see to it that something as simple as pressing the 'send' button on a cell phone doesn't lead to a lifetime of legal and moral complications? We have that power!

What kind of a world do we live in if we have to tell kids: if you take a picture of a certain part of your body and show it to someone else, you could go to jail? It's madness, pure and simple.