I cringe when I think of young girls feeling that their bodies are something to be taken so lightly. I mean, the obvious criminal aspects of this are frightening enough, in terms of how it can ruin a young person's life. But it seems like somewhere along the way a major message was missed if a teen girl doesn't respect herself enough to keep her body private.
It's ironic to me that this exists in a world that has, in recent years, done so much to try to combat sexual abuse of children, teaching them about "bad touching" and that their bodies are no one's business but their own. It seems to be in direct opposition that a child who learns that would then grow a few years older and think it's ok to send a sexually suggestive photo over the phone.
It reminds me of a couple of years back when the talk shows were first full of teens thinking that oral sex wasn't really sex and was "no big deal." Many teen girls claimed to think there was nothing wrong with having oral sex with a boy -- and that it was completely different from intercourse. They seemed to take it almost impersonally. Some said it was a way for them to stay abstinent.
There must be an aspect of that going on here. They must not see these photographs as demeaning or as compromising, even though adults know they are. And they certainly don't realize the implications of what happens when those photographs travel from phone to phone or get put up on the internet.
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Susan, thank you for a really informative share.
I cringe when I think of young girls feeling that their bodies are something to be taken so lightly. I mean, the obvious criminal aspects of this are frightening enough, in terms of how it can ruin a young person's life. But it seems like somewhere along the way a major message was missed if a teen girl doesn't respect herself enough to keep her body private.
It's ironic to me that this exists in a world that has, in recent years, done so much to try to combat sexual abuse of children, teaching them about "bad touching" and that their bodies are no one's business but their own. It seems to be in direct opposition that a child who learns that would then grow a few years older and think it's ok to send a sexually suggestive photo over the phone.
It reminds me of a couple of years back when the talk shows were first full of teens thinking that oral sex wasn't really sex and was "no big deal." Many teen girls claimed to think there was nothing wrong with having oral sex with a boy -- and that it was completely different from intercourse. They seemed to take it almost impersonally. Some said it was a way for them to stay abstinent.
There must be an aspect of that going on here. They must not see these photographs as demeaning or as compromising, even though adults know they are. And they certainly don't realize the implications of what happens when those photographs travel from phone to phone or get put up on the internet.
February 24, 2009 - 9:37amThis Comment
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