Your daughter the Porn Star

Kids live in a texting world
By Kelvin Wade December 17, 2009

One in seven teens 12-17 years old say they've received nude or near nude photos on their cell phones, according to the Pew Research Center's Internet and American Life Project survey. But when the study looked at just 17-year-olds, the number of them who admitted to 'sexting' was closer to 1 in 3.

And the numbers are probably higher considering this study consisted of focus groups of teens
and their parents. How many kids are going to admit to this in front of their parents?

My 12-year-old granddaughter Lauryn is itching to add texting capability to her phone but I've convinced her mother not to do it. I've already discovered an inappropriate photo of her on her Myspace page and had her remove it.

Having seen the kinds of videos and photos Lauryn's friends post, there seems to be some kind of obsession with kids taking 'sexy' pictures of themselves and inviting commentary on them. I can't help but think they're making it easier for sexual predators online. Where's Chris Hansen when we need him?

If these kids post such provocative photos of themselves on social networking sites, then what are they willing to text to someone one on one?

Sexual predators aren't the only worry. The more likely reality of sexting is the embarrassment that awaits these kids in the future. Perhaps they don't grasp that once something moves from the phone to the Internet, they've lost control of it. From there it can be downloaded countless times and uploaded to other sites. These risque photos will remain on the Internet long after they've lived their lives.

Kids are shortsighted. They're not thinking about future mates, their own children, social clubs, employers or the press finding these things years down the road.

They're thinking about how funny that half-naked, beer-soaked party was and how idiotic they and their friends looked in the pictures that they just have to post them on their Myspace account.

Or that topless photo sent to the boy they're madly infatuated with seems like just an expression of their love. They're not thinking about what said boy is going to do with that photo once their romance sours.

This means that mom and dad have to hold off on letting their kids text or be willing to keep a watchful eye on their phones. It's not foolproof. Your barely pubescent sexting child can always delete the evidence of their salacious activities. Still, parents need to do what they can.

More importantly, parents need to talk about this issue when purchasing cell phones for their kids.

I sat my granddaughter down and told her I'd done stupid things when I was younger. My best friend Dan and I would videotape ourselves and friends while partying at Lake Berryessa. We were drunk acting like morons. Thank God there was no texting or internet back then or I think we might've shared those exploits with friends.

Parents, remind your kids: In our digital world, secret sexy photos never stay secret for long. Peace.