Sexting In Middle School

Sexting and Sex go Hand in Hand for Middle School Kids
Abstract
This article written by Allie Bidwell informs parents, educators, and even teens about the dangers of sexting. Sexting is not only an immature decision but it also a dangerous one. It can lead to other promiscuous acts such as actual sexual activities. It is also a crime, the distributing of explicit pictures or having possession of them is a form of child pornography, a serious crime. Statistics and surveys prove this issue has only increased in number of pupil’s sexting. Sexting is a growing trend among adolescents, and we as a society must come up with a solution.
This article can be related to Sigmund Freud’s views on sexual desires, as well as his concept of the id,
and the pleasure principle. I don’t believe it is educator’s fault that this sexting trend is rapidly progressing because we are well informed of the dangers this poses through different health classes and guest speakers at the school. The majority of these pupils who sext are fully aware of the potential consequences, and perhaps just need stricter consequences to prevent them from this inappropriate action.
A new article and study claims that sexting and sex go hand in hand for middle schoolers. Statistics and facts back up this claim. This article was written by Allie Bidwell on June 30th, 2014, and it was published in the U.S. News. Researchers from the University of California conducted studies on middle school students in Los Angeles and found some disturbing and shocking results.
We know sexting and sex is a serious growing issue among high school students, but the fact that this trend is rapidly spreading to middle school students is a fact to be feared.
About 1,200 middle school students in Los Angeles were surveyed about the sexting and if they have sent or received pornographic photos. With a mean age of only 12.3, the results are shocking. About 20% of these pupils had already received an inappropriate sexual photo or text about someone. Only 5% of these students had actually sent an explicit photo or text about themselves to another individual. This means that although only 5% of these adolescents are actually sending the photos, they are being distributed to 1/5 of the total middle school population. As if sending and receiving these sexual photos and texts isn’t bad enough, studies show these texts are linked to being sexually active at a younger age. The report states that children who were receiving sexts, a form of sexual texting, were six times more likely to become sexually active, and the adolescents who were sending the sexts were four times more likely to be sexually
active.
Other studies and surveys have been conducted, and the results are pretty consistent.
Eric Rice, assistant professor in USC’s School of Social Work, surveyed middle and high school students concerning their sexting, and found that 15% of these pupils were guilty of sexting. While some people may blame the teens themselves for this irresponsible acts, other may attack and blame educators and parents for not doing an adequate job of informing these young teens about the dangers of sexting. Patchin agrees with this statement and said, "It is possible that middle school students … aren 't necessarily getting that information as widely as the high school students, or don 't fully acknowledge or understand the potential long-term risks," There are laws in place concerning minors sending or distributing pornography with serious punishments, however this doesn’t seem to stop the majority of these
adolescents.
These sexual desires and impulses shown by teens can be related to Sigmund Freud’s views. One of these views by Freud is that of the id and pleasure principle. This states that we want what make us feel good, regardless of the means or consequences; just like these teens sext without regard to their morals or consequences. Freud’s Five Stages of Psychosexual Development can also be directly linked to these sexual impulses of sexting. Different parts of the brain such as the amygdala which regulates emotions, or the pituitary gland which controls our hormones can also be related to the topic sexting and what causes teens to engage in this behavior
Prior to reading this article, I was aware of the dangers and serious situation of sexting present among teens, but I wasn’t aware to the extent of which it was done. I do agree that something needs to be done to stop this widespread epidemic of sexting, but I don’t agree with Patchin’s statement. The majority of our parents do warn us about the dangers of sexting, and through health classes, and guest speakers in school we have become aware of the risks of sexting as well. Even as children and teens, we have make our decisions to some extent, and if we chose to make the irresponsible ones after we have already been informed of the risks they causes, that’s on us. Perhaps stricter laws and punishment for sexting will stop this, since our morals aren’t enough.
References
Bidwell, A. (2014, June 30). Sexting and Sex go Hand in Hand for Middle Schoolers. Retrieved September 2, 2014.