Sexting in America: a dangerous digital game

MTV News premiered a special presentation about the impact of “sexting” in America. The presentation featured the lives of two teenagers and how “sexting” affects their lives and the lives of various teenagers.

Kim Stolz, a reporter from MTV News, defined “sexting” as when an individual sends sexually explicit pictures from their cell phone or computer.

According to a study conducted by MTV, 29 percent of young people have been reported as being involved in some type of nude “sexting.” In addition, one in four “sext” recipients confessed they forward their sex messages to their friends.

Ally from New Jersey was 16-years old when her ex-boyfriend “sexted” her saying that he would get back with her under one condition. She then sent him a sex message. Unfortunately, after doing so her ex-boyfriend then forwarded the message to the whole high school.

Her life became a nightmare and she is still doing theraphy to recover from her traumatic experience.

Ann Shoket, editor-in-chief of Seventeen magazine, said that most girls succumb to “sexting” because of the digital technology offered in computers, cell phones and cameras, making them fragile and more likely to give in.

Phillip Alpert, 20, from Orlando , shared how he became a Florida Corrections Department registered sex offender after getting involved in the trend.

After a heated argument, Alpert sent his 16-year-old girlfriend’s pictures through e-mail to 70 friends, families and teachers.

As a result, Alpert was charged with child pornography and was arrested and registered as a sex offender.

Alpert, who has to attend sexual offender meetings, must live with his actions until he reaches the age of 43. In addition, Alpert’s life is very limited because he cannot live in the vicinity of schools and churches.

As a result, he was dismissed from college and cannot find a job.

“Sexting” is not something that just happens to teens but also to celebrities, such as Pete Wentz, Rihanna, Tiger Woods, Kim Kardashian, John Edwards, Paris Hilton, Greg Olden, and former Miss California, Carrie Prejean.These celebrities have all faced public humiliation through nude pictures or videos leaking to the world. According to Parry Aftab, an Internet privacy and security lawyer, the best way to bail out of “sext” is to ignore the content.

“When getting an unsolicited sex image, delete it. Make sure other people know that you are not willing to accept them, and you are not going to forward them along, therefore you will not be apart of the problem,” said Aftab.