Kids Sexting and Commiting Suicide after
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Its scary to think of how many teens out there are now sexting and not just dirtly little messages but nude photos. A 2009 Harris poll found that one in five have texted nude pictures of themselves. One in five how scary is that? Some of those texting messages have become nightmares of teens.
This past two years two beautiful girls have commited suicide because of texting or "sexting" as its called. Both girls inocently sent nude photographs to boys who then in turn forwarded it on to the masses.
In May of 2008 Jessica Logan hung herself after sexting
She had sent nude pictures of herself to a boyfriend. When they broke up, he sent them to other high school girls. The girls were harassing her, calling her a slut and a whore. She was miserable and depressed, afraid even to go to school.
In the end it was to much and she hung herself in her bedroom. You can read more about that HERE.
In Sept 2009 Hope Witsell, age 13 hung herself after sexting
At the end of the school year at Beth Shields Middle School, the taunting became so bad that Hope Witsell's friends surrounded her between classes. They escorted her down hallways like human shields, fending off insults such as "whore" and "slut." A few days before, Hope had forwarded a nude photo of herself to a boy she liked — a practice widely known as "sexting." The image found its way to other students, who forwarded it to their friends. Soon the nude photo was circulating through cell phones at Shields Middle and Lennard High School, according to multiple students at both schools. "Tons of people talk about me behind my back and I hate it because they call me a whore!" Hope wrote in her journal. "And I can't be a whore i'm too inexperienced. So secretly TONS of people hate me … " You can read more about it HERE.
Last spring I started the one group here on GeekDrop MOM's Group (open to any parents or anyone concerned about children). In that group I did a post called
Is sexting the same as child pornography?
After all children who send or store nude photos of anyone under the age of 18 is considered child porn. There have been cases where some girls have sexting images of THEMSELVES to boys and have been arrested for distributing child porn even though it was a picture of themselves.
Time to talk to the kids again on the dangers of sexting.
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Yeah but its just not the little girls - boys too. Also if the boy receives the text with the picture and he keeps it on his phone then he has child porn on his phone. If he should forward it then by law he is distributing child porn. Its forcing parents to now have new chats with the kids - girls and boys. Scary times!
Yes thats true, but the boys don't get called whores, its always more difficult for the girls. But yes it's definitely worth having the talk with the boys too!
I'm a guy and I've been called a whore many times, 
. Always by girls strangley enough. And it's usually just because they see a bunch of girls commenting on my Facebook/MS pages, whether I reply back or not. Although the pix I have in my albums probably don't help.
I think all of this sextingg stuff could be almost eliminated if parents would stop giving their 13 year old kids a cell phone, especially ones with cameras. We didn't have cell phones when I was that age and we grew up just as safe, and fine. I know parents feel they 'need' to suddenly be in 100% contact with their kid, in case of emergency, or whatever, but again, cell phones are relatively a new thing, and we all grew up fine without them. Maybe hold off on giving kids their own phone until the same age they're allowed to kill people by driving a car, (16) or joining the military to potentially kill other people and/or get killed (18). If they're mentally able to handle those possible outcomes, they should theoretically be able to handle the pressure of sexting gone wrong. Theoretically.
Btw, if you're against kids sexting, whatever ya do, don't sniff around too much on Stickam. That kinda thing is rampant on there, and those are full motion (webcams).
We didn't have cell phones when I was that age and we grew up just as safe, and fine. I know parents feel they 'need' to suddenly be in 100% contact with their kid, in case of emergency, or whatever, but again, cell phones are relatively a new thing, and we all grew up fine without them. Maybe hold off on giving kids their own phone until the same age they're allowed to kill people by driving a car, (16) or joining the military to potentially kill other people and/or get killed (18). If they're mentally able to handle those possible outcomes, they should theoretically be able to handle the pressure of sexting gone wrong. Theoretically.
ahh, the opinion of a male who is, alas, not a parent. 
Btw, if you're against kids sexting, whatever ya do, don't sniff around too much on Stickam. That kinda thing is rampant on there, and those are full motion (webcams).
Do you not report that? (if they are underage)
I have to agree with Dogg though that kids shouldn't have cam's on their phones. But nowadays it's hard to find one on your plan that doesn't have one. (However they do make VERY basic cell phones for kids with the design directly related to the purpose: emergency only.) Which makes it equally important to have a talk with the kids, even if they are not taking pictures of themselves, like SM said yesterday-they might not see the harm in being sent one, or FWD-ing it.
My kid will have a cell phone when he goes to kindergarten with prepaid minutes to be used for emergencies or urgent matters, and with the emergency GPS locator turned ON. The world is not the same anymore. You hear sick and twisted things happening to young children every day. You can't be naive about that.
As far as teens who use cell phones to talk and text with their friends... Something my parents did with my siblings is they confiscated the cell phone at night and kept it in their room--also went through it probably.
If it were me, and i had concerns about my teen doing that sort of thing even after we had chats about it-i would get them the most basic kind of cell phone that can't receive pics and dont' have a texting plan, so you know when they are because you get charged for it--then they get punished--unless it was an urgent text to you the parent.
And no a 16 yr old doesn't weigh consequences well enough yet (the prefrontal cortex is not fully developed yet). They would not be able to handle the outcome of sexting-gone-wrong...that is Jail, dogg. More on that, but i have a meeting.
ahh, the opinion of a male who is, alas, not a parent.
Sorry, but that argument doesn't hold water. You've never run the country either, but come election time you still vote on the next president based on how YOU feel the country should be run, and whether or not your choice is in agreement (more or less) with one of the candidates. Using your argument, you shouldn't be allowed to vote since you've never run a country. Or a city, a small town, or probably even cub scout meeting for that matter.
You also aren't a soldier, and probably never will be one, but I bet you have strong opinions on this war we're in, and whether we should or shold not be there.
I could give a hundred other similar situations. I've actually been around long enough to see grow from a baby, and partially help raise my now 20 year old niece, as well has being around long enough to see (and hear all of the little trials and tribulations) most of my friends and other relatives raise kids. So I'm not 'blissfully unaware' and completely ignorant of parenthood. Not to mention, I've actually been through childhood all the way to adulthood personally.
And I still mainitain, kids don't really need a cell phone to survive, and turn out safe and well. What if they'd have never even been invented? Would all the children go poof, and die off?
Do you not report that? (if they are underage)
Most don't give their age, but you can pretty much tell they look underage. And I don't spend much time there. I've actually spent about a grand total of an hour there once, so I don't just hang out there all the time being a whistle blower. And to report it, I think I would need to sit there with some webcam recording software and record it, then send it as proof, which opens me up to having child porn on my computer. Not something I really want to do. They don't just leave their previous naked sessions there for people to come by and see, while they go off to school.
My kid will have a cell phone when he goes to kindergarten with prepaid minutes to be used for emergencies or urgent matters, and with the emergency GPS locator turned ON. The world is not the same anymore. You hear sick and twisted things happening to young children every day. You can't be naive about that.
The world isn't THAT much different. Just more gadgets that make things like this easier. Sick and twisted things will be opening up more and more, since kindergartners will now have cell phones with cameras, to send nudies to people ... personally I don't think a kindergartner needs a phone. That's what the adults who are paid to watch them all day are there for, to handle emergencies as well as teach, just like they did when I was a kid. And see, I turned out safe and sound. 
But just imagine how sexually 'mature' at a way younger age I'd be had I been forwarding and getting naked pictures of myself and friends starting as young as kindergarten, all through grade school, junior high, and high school?
Are you gonna let your kindergartner have a webcam in his/her bedroom with the door closed too? It's not much different. At least at home, you can monitor what your kid does with a webcam; when a kid is gone for the day, all day, with a cell phone cam, anything can happen, and you probably won't even know about it, like the two girls in this thread, who's parents never knew until it was too late.
And no a 16 yr old doesn't weigh consequences well enough yet (the prefrontal cortex is not fully developed yet). They would not be able to handle the outcome of sexting-gone-wrong...that is Jail, dogg. More on that, but i have a meeting.
You might want to take that battle up with the government then. They seem to think it's old enough to drive a car all alone, and very possibly kill an entire van full of people. Full families potentially, or themselves, and even friends they're driving around with them, jamming the music, texting and talking on their cells, barely paying attention to the road ahead of them. We also assume they're responsible enough to not be doing drugs and drinking at that age while they take that driving responsibility, but I bet everyone reading this has been drunk at 16, and most likely even drove. If you didn't I'd say you're in the minority. Also, when a 16 year old boy for example, molests a 2 year old girl, they try him as an adult. Same for a 16 year old murdering someone. They're considered adults at that point, and recieve the same punishment as a full grown adult. But they aren't able to handle sexting gone wrong yet, huh? Then back to my original point that you disagreed with, and take their cell phone away from them so they don't have to worry about it ...
P.s. It isn't always JUST based around the cam on that cell phone ... teens having cell phones on them at all times, also keeps them in much quicker touch with each other at any point in time, at all hours of the day and night, to know where the parties are, and the trouble is, so they know exactly where they need to be at all times for the 'fun' (read drugs, sex, fighting, etc.). Take the cam and even the texting away, and you still have that added ability that we didn't have as kids. And we already got in enough trouble without that back then I can't even begin to imagine the things I would have been up to had I of had all this technology at my fingertips at that age. :daydreams: 
Well I think you BOTH have some valid points. Here is how it is cell phone wise in my house now. Currently all 3 of my children have cell phones (ages 13, 15 and 17). I gave them their phones during the summer of them changing from elementary school to middle school. The middle school is about a mile away and my kids ride their bikes to school so the main reason was for safety. Have they had to use thier phones for emergency's - YES. The one neighbor girl riding with my son hit a mailbox with her bike, went over the handle bars and broke her arm. Son called us for help. Then I had one son jumped by kids after school and was beat up pretty good, I got that teary call from him to come get him. That call was then followed by a call from the paramedics who showed up before I did to check him out.
When I got phones for my kids they were all basic, no cameras on them. Now my oldest his phone did break and when I called the phone insurance they sent me a new phone (his was discontinued) that did have a camera. My kids have no internet on their phones but they can text however they can not send or receive text pictures only typed messages.
I do view their phone bill every month (it shows the phone numbers). Bottom line with phones comes trust just like anything else now days with kids. I think its more important to know what your kids are doing, who they hang with and what activities they are into. I pretty much know what my kids are into and who their friends are since my house is the neighborhood hang out.
Well color me dumb but, I never thougt of dis-abling pic messages. I am calling my carrier today to see about doing this
oh yeah no pics on my kids phones. Another thing to block that I do is any 3rd party texting things. Like the "joke of the day" or "XXXXX game cheat site". I pay for a phone and not the add on crap. If your worried about texting you can disable that too.
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Thank god i dont have a girl....I know these girls are young, but I think they should know better than to send pics like those to anybody. Eventually it comes back to bite you. I think its up to the parents to instill in these kids that this is NOT acceptable.