School wants to ban sexting, everywhere.
- Thread starter Shadow Dragon
- Start date
- Status
I think it's boring, and I know what I'm missing and waiting for me back home, and I don't need a shitty cell phone picture to remind me.
I think it's pathetic to enjoy attention from whomever receives it. The attention doesn't mean anything, and people sometimes end up embarassed when they find out they're not as attractive as they think they are.
How is sexting anything like the other things you mentioned? And if it is, why would you not want your stepdaughter doing it?
I didn't say it was. I was responding to what you said about teens expressing their true selves.
Actually, that's exactly what they're trying to do. I then listed other ways kids try to do that.
Actually, that's exactly what they're trying to do. I then listed other ways kids try to do that.
The other things you listed are nothing like sexting. Sexting is dumb kids taking pictures of themselves and trying to act like porn stars to get attention.
I'm really curious as to why you feel so strongly about this, why you're willing to paint everyone who disagrees with you as "pathetic", just because you find it "boring".
Fact is, you wouldn't stand for it if someone characterized horror films, or erotic photography, with the scorn and disdain that you're exhibiting towards "sexting".
People do characterize what I do that way, actually, even though it's a creative act, while sexting is not. I think many of the same people who do sexting probably would have no problem regarding what I do with the same distain. People are free to judge me, so why am I not free to judge them?
Remember when people were not okay with the fat lady who wanted to get fatter? I'm not okay with this.
I don't understand why people are so willing to defend teenagers' right to do this shit. It is not smart, when the person you send the message to can forward it to everyone in their contact list. It is not a productive use of time, and in some cases it is technically illegal. No one would so vehemently defend a teenager's right to drink, smoke, or use drugs.
I'm curious why you're curious.
Uh...yes they would.
Drinking and smoking are legal at 18 and 16 respectively in this country. As for drugs? Meh. Depends on the person, depends what drug we're talking about.
And in this country at least, the age of consent is 16.
They're not thought. I've mentioned many times in this thread that I was not allowed to drink or smoke when I was in school. Gee, where was the outrage?
You talked about their right to do this shit, not their right to do it on school property.
I haven't read through this entire thread, but if you're talking about on school property, fair enough. In their own time, away from school? Don't have a problem with it.
I haven't read through this entire thread, but if you're talking about on school property, fair enough. In their own time, away from school? Don't have a problem with it.
Like I said, I was just curious. It seemed an odd thing for you to be so passionately against.
And while I see your point about teens (it's not something I support teens doing, for the record), you haven't kept it there -- you've scorned anyone who does it, including an adult who used it personally within the framework of a relationship.
I'm familiar with the saying "judge not, lest ye be judged"; up till now I was unfamiliar with the correlative "I get judged, so why the fuck shouldn't I judge too?"
- Joined
- Apr 26, 2005
- Messages
- 23,708
- Reaction score
- 10,657
- Location
- In a world of my own making
- Website
- shadowferret.wordpress.com
Wow. Seriously?
Drinking is 21 here, although I don't necessarily agree with that, but smoking, you need to be an adult, 18. Why would anyone think it's ok for a 16 year old ot smoke?
- Joined
- Jul 18, 2006
- Messages
- 8,745
- Reaction score
- 3,096
- Location
- Toronto, Canada
- Website
- www.adriennekress.com
The fact is, most of the teens sexting are girls, and most of those girls are doing it not as an empowerment tool but as a means of having people like them, pay attention to them. I have seen enough documentaries on the subject, read enough articles to know that sexting is along the same line as offering oral sex for presents etc. It's young women, sometimes even girls, thinking that their only value is from sexualising themselves. They also lack the ability to appropriately understand the consequences. Many of these girls interviewed don't think ahead, don't realise that once the boy has the picture he can do whatever he wants with it, which means sharing it with friends, sending it out to the rest of the school.
9 times out of 10 these young women are getting burned. And 9 times out of 10 the reasons behind sending the picture in the first place are a lack of self esteem, not because they have a lot of it.
Sexting is bad because most girls involved think the only way they can be special is if they please boys with behaving like porn stars. It has nothing to do with the girl herself, but with her desire to be liked.
Yes, I'm sure, that once in a while there is a teen girl who totally understands the ramifications, doesn't care if the whole school sees her naked, and truly is empowered by sending out such pictures. But most aren't. And that's why this is a truly big deal.
Now I don't know if you can ban it outside of school hours and etc, but I do know that thinking that, "Well if the girl thinks it's fun what's the big deal?" is denying the truth behind the issue. And I can guarantee that even those girls you ask who say that, once you dig deep enough, it will come back to wanting to be liked. At least with most of them.
9 times out of 10 these young women are getting burned. And 9 times out of 10 the reasons behind sending the picture in the first place are a lack of self esteem, not because they have a lot of it.
Sexting is bad because most girls involved think the only way they can be special is if they please boys with behaving like porn stars. It has nothing to do with the girl herself, but with her desire to be liked.
Yes, I'm sure, that once in a while there is a teen girl who totally understands the ramifications, doesn't care if the whole school sees her naked, and truly is empowered by sending out such pictures. But most aren't. And that's why this is a truly big deal.
Now I don't know if you can ban it outside of school hours and etc, but I do know that thinking that, "Well if the girl thinks it's fun what's the big deal?" is denying the truth behind the issue. And I can guarantee that even those girls you ask who say that, once you dig deep enough, it will come back to wanting to be liked. At least with most of them.
Why would anyone think it wasn't?
ETA: And drinking's actually legal younger than 18 if it's supervised and in your own home. But you have to be 18 to buy it, or drink outside of private property, in a pub for instance.
- Joined
- Feb 12, 2005
- Messages
- 28,750
- Reaction score
- 2,934
- Location
- right here
- Website
- www.veinglory.com
Can you, uh, cite those statistics? I don't think that's quite as obvious to everyone reading along as you think it is.
- Joined
- Feb 12, 2005
- Messages
- 28,750
- Reaction score
- 2,934
- Location
- right here
- Website
- www.veinglory.com
The things is most defintitions of the word do include text. So I don't know that we can assume the school didn't mean to include this?
Haven't teenagers already been arrested for sending photos of themselves and others around... something about child porn laws?
Why does a school have to ban something that's already illegal?
Why does a school have to ban something that's already illegal?
I disagree with kids sexting for the reasons TP mentioned. I don't look with scorn and disgust at adults who know what they're doing, have considered the consequences and want to sext.
OK, one reason that a school might want to act in the case of texting is that although the act of sexting might have taken place off campus, I can pretty much guarantee that the photos are being shared on campus in many (if not most) cases. There was a bit of a controversy at my school with some of the cheerleaders doing this over the summer during my first year as a teacher, and everyone knew about it.
I'm a teacher, but I'm not really a big fan of schools punishing kids for things that happened away from school and had nothing to do with school.
I'm a teacher, but I'm not really a big fan of schools punishing kids for things that happened away from school and had nothing to do with school.
Last edited:
You wouldn't believe the sexts I got in my youth. Except they were sent via e-mail or chat, not cell phone. I could have just as easily hit Fwd:, added everyone from my contact list into the field, and hit Send. But then, I'm juuuust young enough that my generation is probably the one we're talking about.
Why is it odd? Why would it be any more odd to be against it than anyone else being passionately for it?
For the record, that person asked why I thought it was pathetic, so I explained. Mostly, I think it's a pathetic way to feel attractive or good about yourself. Adults doing it in a relationship does not make it a legitimate way for teens to express themselves.
I don't really believe in "judge not, lest ye be judged." People DO judge me all the time, and each other.
Last edited:
As for why someone would be willing to defend a teenager's right to do this shit, I can only speak for myself.
First, I would say that I liked your wording very much - the idea of defending "the right" to do it, as opposed to defending the thing itself. This is an important distinction for me. Personally, I don't care for sending naughty pictures, but I recognize that that's not a valid argument for telling other people what to do. Likewise, the opinion that something is "boring", or "not smart" or "not a productive use of time," is an equally invalid argument for banning something.
The other line of argument has to do with protecting people from themselves. An argument can be made that "sexting," is dangerous for the person doing it, but like many dangerous things - smoking, drinking, using drugs - I support personal choice, regardless. (and nothing is special about "sexting" to me - I would defend the right to drink or smoke or use drugs just as vehemently.)
As a general rule, when it comes to people doing things they might later regret - my view is that if the person consents, they're free to access whatever benefits there may be for that action, as well as free to deal with whatever blowback there is. Freedom is often a two-way street like that.
The only cracking down on this stuff I think I could support would be in specific cases, where a person sends a picture of someone else without that person's consent. I see a difference between making yourself suffer and making someone else suffer against their will.
And in cases where sending the pictures is illegal, then it's a police matter, not a school matter. If it's found that a crime has occurred, and the school wants to punish a student further (such as through suspension, expulsion, etc.), that could be reasonable. On the other hand, if the police say "We had this report of an incident, but as far as we can tell there's nothing to it," then the school should have little or no authority to act like they know better than the police. Like Celia said, schools have often punished the wrong people for alleged drinking, drug use, etc. That's because when it comes to off-campus incidents, schools (probably) wouldn't have the same ability as police to investigate an incident and determine what happened, who's culpable, etc. That's what the police are for. So I think the school should at least wait to see what the police say before taking action, if it's something that's already illegal.
Schools should have limited jurisdictions. They're the police of their own campus. If a student is chewing gum when they're not supposed to, a staff member can make them spit it out. Same goes for any on-campus rules. But if a school is claiming power to police beyond their borders, especially when there's evidence they won't be able to do it effectively, and may even punish students who don't deserve it because of that incompetence, then it makes sense to say no to that.
All IMHO, of course. I do have to recognize that my views on personal liberty are in the minority.
- Status