Your teen could be SEXting

Your teen could be SEXting

By Victoria Barker

Tue, Jul 15, 2008 my paper

IT IS a scenario that's becoming familiar: A private SMS or MMS that's intended only for the recipient is sent out.

Later, the sender discovers it has been passed around without his knowledge.

That is one of the risks involved with the mobile phone phenomenon called "sexting".

"Sexting" refers to the sending of sexually explicit text or photographs through one's mobile phone to friends or potential suitors.

With advances in technology, there are no boundaries as to how far "sexting" can go.

Teenagers seem to be at the centre of the action, judging by media reports of the "explosion of sex texting" recently.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported that the phenomenon is so rampant in Australia that it has led to 32 teenagers being charged with offences for child pornography.

Any image that portrays a minor in a sexual activity or indecent manner is considered child pornography in Australia, the article said. Anyone who receives or passes on such images is liable to face criminal charges.

The trend is catching on with teenagers in Singapore, according to several of them whom my paper spoke to.

Student Jane Ashley, 22, admitted to participating in "sexting" when she was younger.

Miss Ashley said she sent sexually explicit text messages and photographs to her boyfriend when she was 18.

"I thought it would make me seem cool."

Parents and psychiatrists my paper spoke to feel that although the trend is not all that surprising, teens need to be made more aware of the consequences of their actions.

Miss Ashley agreed: "My photos could have ended up in the wrong hands."

Teens "SEXting" to gain approval

THE need to be accepted by their peers and to seem cool are some of the reasons why teenagers are turning to sex texting, or "sexting".

Teenagers my paper spoke to confirmed it happens here, though not as openly as it does in places like Australia and the United States.

Student Claudette van Maarschalkerweerd, 15, said that "sexting" is quite common in her all-girls school in Katong.

Said the Secondary 3 student: "Kids are open about it when they're at school or with friends, but of course they keep it from their parents."

She added that "it is not so much pictures, but more of suggestive text" that is shared.

The craving for peer approval is one of the main reasons teenagers participate in "sexting", says an article in the Sydney Morning Herald last week.

The ease with which image files can be sent to the Internet through third-generation mobile technology, or 3G, exacerbates the problem of such photos falling into the wrong hands, said the report.

Claudette's mother, Mrs Rosanna van Maarschalkerweerd, 49, feels that teens today are more sexually aware than they were five or 10 years ago.

"Sex now is so in-your-face, be it in movies or music videos. I'm not sure how rampant the problem is for now, but the groundwork for it to get worse is definitely there," said the housewife.

Psychiatrist Simon Siew, 54, attributed the trend to the availability of technology to young people today.

He said: "It's too easy to do such things when everyone owns a mobile phone."

Still, both Dr Siew and parents my paper spoke to agreed that raising awareness among youths of the detrimental effects of "sexting" is important.

Said Mrs van Maarschalkerweerd: "Parents definitely need to be more willing to discuss such sexual issues with their children. It's important they know what's right and what's wrong.

"They need to understand why it's a bad idea, rather than do it now and then deal with the repercussions."