Sexting and Cell Phones

Here we have a sexting situation again. This time an ex-boyfriend has a nude photo of his former girlfriend and is selling it for $2 a photo on his cell phone. What is the moral of the story, do not send nude photos of oneself, period. This happened between two high school students and I am sure it is happening more than one would think. The fact is, this is not only sexting, but also considered cyber-bullying. Who would like to have a nude photo that you shared with at the time the “love of your life” be shared and sold? The only thing the girlfriend is getting now is embarrassment and hopefully learned a lesson.

Internet Trolling

Have you heard about internet trolling?  Internet trolling is posting vicious, harmful anonymous comments on social networks. The comments are directed towards unsuspecting people, even deceased people. It is a form of cyber-bullying and people don’t realize the harm it causes to the victims and their families.

In Arizona, there is a House Bill 2549 trying to make trolling illegal. The bill has passed both legislative houses last week and awaits approval by Governor Jan Brewer. 

The bill states the following:

“It is unlawful for any person, with intent to terrify, intimidate, threaten, harass, annoy or offend, to use ANY ELECTRONIC OR DIGITAL DEVICE and use any obscene, lewd or profane language or suggest any lewd or lascivious act, or threaten to inflict physical harm to the person or property of any person.”

New Jersey Sexting Law

On April 1, New Jersey has a new state law… a sexting law for under-aged teenagers.  The new law is to help protect under-aged teenagers. For first time offenders, the under-aged teenager who sends a nude photo will have to attend an educational program instead of being faced with criminal charges. A conference was held on Monday night for parents and teenagers to learn about the new law and the long-term impact of sexting.

Smartphones, Cell Phones and Teens

According to comScore, there are over 100 million U.S. smartphone subscribers; this covers a three-month period ending January 2012. That is a growth of 13 percent from October 2011. The report also mentions, at the end of January, there were 234 million teens, age 13 or older using a mobile phone in the U.S.  So clearly, there are numerous more parents buying their teens cell phones whether it is a smartphone or cell phone.  Besides texting and calling on a cell phone, the smartphones have the capability of accessing the internet.  With statistics like these, it is extremely important for parents to stay on top of the advancements of the internet and what teens can access and be exposed to while surfing the net on their smartphone.

Social Networks

Do you know who all of your friends are on your social networks? These days, you better make sure you do. It is not a good idea to”befriends” with someone you don’t know just to increase the number of friends you have. Many incidents have been reported that fake students create a social network account to find out information about where tweens go and the routes they take, as well as the times tweens may go places. Along with finding out the where and happenings of unsuspecting tweens, the fake students make nasty comments about other students on the social network.  This is all a type of cyber-bullying. It is not safe for tweens to be involved in these types of social network interactions. Again social networks, as well as the internet, was not developed for this kind of luring dangers.

Responsible Parenting

Responsible Parenting doesn’t get any easier today with all technology we are absorbed with. Some say it does make our lives and parenting easier because we can give our tweens and teens a cell phone today to help keep them safe. But also what comes along with getting a child a cell phone is Responsible Parenting. What I mean by Responsible Parenting is educating yourself and your tweens and teens about the cell phone.  It is teaching and talking to them about cell phone safety and etiquette. Cell phones are not anything like the ancient home phones where you pick of the phone to call your friends to make plans for the weekend. Parents need to keep current on the latest advancements on cell phones and the internet so you know what you are talking about when you give advice to your tween and teens. Also, continuing to talk with them about any new friends they meet online and encourage your tween and teens to openly talk to you about any suspicious activity they encounter. Responsible Parenting is trying different tactics to keep the lines of communication open with your children so they will be safe from the lurking dangers of the internet and cell phones.