Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Safe Sex(ting)


               According to CBS News, a new study shows that almost 80 percent of college students have received sexual text messages, and more than half of all college students have received sexual images via text messaging. But did you know that ten percent of the sexual texts were forwarded to friends without the consent of the person who originally sent the message? Kind of a scary thought.

In high school, every year our last volleyball practice before homecoming weekend, my coach would always give us his famous “homecoming speech” and every year he would say the same thing, “If you aren’t going to be smart, at least don’t be stupid” and that is exactly the moto I will use for this post.

                              Yes, as I am sure some of you know, each state has their own laws and viewpoints on sexting and age and the content of the message and blah blah blah. However, that is not what I am here to talk to you about. Because quite frankly, it is not my business whether you engage in sexting and you probably do not care if I think you should or should not do it. What I am here to do is inform you on the risks and hopefully convince you make smarter choices if you choose to sext.

               Because most college students are not yet looking for “the one”, they filter through relationships quite rapidly. Because of this, with each new relationship one may have, they want to feel a sense of belonging. So they are sharing more of themselves with people they are still getting to know. But once they click that 'send' button, who knows where else the message will end up?

               If you do choose to send explicit text messages or picture to someone else, please wait until you have built a strong relationship full of care and trust. Don’t send anything revealing to someone you are still getting to know. I have not experienced this personally but I do know of a couple people who decided to send photos to people they thought they could trust only to find out that now the entire school has seen it. It is a serious issue that affected them both mentally and emotionally and I never want to see that happen to anyone else.

               One last thing to keep in mind while sexting, there is always the possibility of what you send going public. We know you’ve heard the lecture before, “don’t send anything you wouldn’t want your mom to see” and as annoying as it is, it’s sadly a rather valid statement. BUT it is understood that some occasions call for a little something special, and when those occasions arise it’s best to be safe rather than sorry. Think before you send.

               And my final words on this highly controversial and widely discussed topic that has many views on it, if you choose to sext, if you aren’t going to be smart about it, just don’t be stupid.

 

Reference:
"Sexts" all the rage among college students. (n.d.). Retrieved March 01, 2016, from http://www.cbsnews.com/news/sexts-all-the-rage-among-college-students/

16 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This topic is interesting for the simple fact that I was unaware that 80% of college students have received sexual text messages. To be honest, I thought the percentage would be higher. I wonder what it is for high school students..

    ReplyDelete
  3. Great post! My high school had a problem when I was a Freshman. One person sent explicit pictures and then the message was forwarded. The police were actually called in and we had a school conference. The person that sent the message was 14 and the receiver of the message was 18. I am not sure about the end results of this situation however it was considered child pornography. Thanks for the great post!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Great post! You're very straight forward and I like that. I like how you put your experience about your volleyball coach in the post. I think I'm going to start using that quote lol. But good job and good post!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I have had several people unfortunately go through an experience where photos were leaked. Especially, in high school the photos would spread all over the school and the person would be exposed.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I have had several people unfortunately go through an experience where photos were leaked. Especially, in high school the photos would spread all over the school and the person would be exposed.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I liked your post. Many girls and guys send pictures without thinking of what can happen afterwards. It can easy to get caught in the moment. I liked how you included a personal story in your post.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I really enjoyed your tone in this article, it was very relaxing yet it delivered sold facts. I think you did a really good job on this.

    ReplyDelete
  9. This post was very informative and I really liked that motto "if you aren't going to be smart, at least don't be stupid." The statistics were also very shocking.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Sexting is such a problem especially with the younger generation. People believe they are doing something that will remain private but many times it does not. I like the information provided in this post, it allows people to be able to make informed decisions about sexting and whether or not to do it.

    ReplyDelete
  11. This post was fantastic i like how you talked about sexting because it can lead to many problems. I enjoyed that you were unbiased and informed us about both sides and how we need to take precautions if individuals do decide to sexting

    ReplyDelete
  12. I this this is a great post. I recieved very little info from my mom about the sex scene situation growing up and it wasnt until i joined the Army that i received good information. I had a mentor who said if the person can wait 3 months with out going past first or second base then that person usually will last. just make sure there is no side thing going on which would explain why its able to wait. Moral of the story be in a loving trusting relationship before you take it to the next level

    ReplyDelete
  13. This is a great post ! The information was blunt and right to the point. It was very informative and i enjoyed reading it. Learned alot of new things I didn't know before.

    ReplyDelete
  14. At first when I read this title I laughed. When I started reading into it I was taken by surprise because it was so informative. I think it is very important that you talked about this topic since so many kids are using phones, and other technology these days.

    ReplyDelete
  15. I think you make some great points. I don't think some people realize how easily texts and pictures can get out to the public. This is informative and interesting to read. I think this is good information for people our age to read.

    ReplyDelete
  16. There were numerous great points that were brought up within this topic. People dont understand how important privacy is and how vital it is to keep some things private. Pictures and images can leak easily so it's important to be careful.

    ReplyDelete