More than just a text

Sending sexual content digitally has consequences

Paul Schmid/Seattle Times/MCT

Our definition of “modern romance” changes with each generation. Look at the classic story of “The Notebook:” boy meets girl and they are destined to spend the rest of their lives together. Now look at what is being displayed as romance today on shows like “Gossip Girl.” Teens who admire the sexual confidence of the characters in these shows might feel insecure in their own relationships as they make comparisons between their love lives and these pop culture depictions of “modern romance.”

Maybe that’s why some teenagers of our generation feel as if they have something to prove -- as if they need to live up to what they see in movies or on TV. This could be one reason for the apparent increase in the relatively modern form of “spicing up” an adult relationship with “sexting.”

Sending pictures and comments that display or imply sexual content over text messages or the Internet is commonly referred to as sexting. But sending provocative messages can have many consequences for teens today.

It is not always guaranteed that your message is going to be kept private. There have been incidents all over the nation of pictures being spread without the original sender’s permission.

If the sender of the original message is under 18, this is considered child pornography.

Anyone who sends the picture or receives the picture may have charges pressed against them for being involved with child pornography.

With sexting making headlines around the nation, both parents and teens are becoming more aware of the dangers and the consequences of sending provocative messages.

You don’t always know that your message is going to end up in the hands of the person you sent it to. There is always a possibility of it being sent out, and you don’t know where it might end up -- in the hands of friends, parents, school administration, police or even people you don’t know are all possibilities.

News reporters are calling sexting the modern-day “spin the bottle.” But if you think about it now, spin the bottle seems a lot less harmless than sexting will ever be. And the reality is, not everyone is doing it either. So if that thought ever crosses your mind, know that it just isn’t true. Lots of teenagers today do know the consequences of sending provocative messages.

Teens choose MySpace, Facebook and texting as their preferred means of communication because it is fast and easy. But a relationship should be based on more than something fast and easy.

Our outlook on modern romance is almost always defined by our means of communication. And today’s technology has had a major effect on today’s communication. Still, that doesn’t mean that romances have to be as “spicy” as in “Gossip Girl.” Sometimes “boy meets girl” is enough.

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