Messages with sexual content

With the latest revelations over Vernon Kay and Ashley Cole sending lewd texts and sexually explicit photos to someone other than their respective partners is not OK.

Despite the fact that no physical indiscretion has taken place there is however a psychological scaring for the innocent victims their partners. Can these women get over this and move on. I’m sure they can.

It’s quite evident that they are extremely hurt over the incident as these texts messages and images have made their way into the national and international media.

Should couples dirty laundry be washed in public though? Is it better that these issues are dealt with privately away from prying eyes.

Sexting is not new it was reported as early as 2005 in the U.S. and has since been described as taking place worldwide. It has been reported in Ireland long before then. The first incident took place in January 2004 when an image of a semi-naked Dublin schoolgirl in a sexually explicit pose was circulated by phone messages around the country similar incidents have been reported in Australia, New Zealand,and Great Britain.

In January last year, a survey of 1200 teenagers in the U.S. reported that one in five had sent explicit photos of themselves.

Sexting is a result of advances in technology enabling new forms of social interaction.

Messages with sexual content have been exchanged over all forms of historical media. Newer technology allows photographs and videos, which are intrinsically more explicit and have greater impact. The social danger with sexting is that material can be very easily and widely transmitted, over which the originator has no control.

In 2007, 32 Victoria teenagers were prosecuted as a result of sexting activity. Child pornography charges were brought against six teenagers in Greensburg, Pennsylvania in January 2009 after three girls sent sexually explicit photographs to three male classmates.

In 2008,in the U.S. a Virginia assistant-principal was charged with possession of child pornography and related crimes after he had been asked to investigate a rumoured sexting incident at the high school where he worked. Upon finding a student in possession of a photo on his phone that depicted the upper body of a girl wearing only underpants, her arms mostly covering her breasts, the assistant principal showed the image to the principal who instructed him to preserve the photo on his computer as evidence, which he did. While the court later ruled that the photo did not constitute child pornography because under Virginia law, nudity alone is not enough to qualify an image as child pornography; the image must be “sexually explicit” and “lewd.” Loudoun County prosecutor James Plowman stands by his initial assessment of the photo and says he would not have pursued the case if the assistant principal would have agreed to resign. The assistant principal had to get a second mortgage on his house and spend $150,000 in attorneys’ fees to clear his name.

It’s just as it’s always been some people have terrible judgement and make terrible choices.
In the end the rules remain the same teenagers and Adult kids cop yourselves on.

50 sexting acronyms parents should know.