High-Tech Flirting Turns Explicit, Altering Young Lives

Yesterday the New York Times published an article on the subject of 'Sexting and Consequences' as part of their ongoing Poisoned Web series discussing online bullying. A Girl's Nude Photo, and Altered Lives explores the consequences of an eight grade girl texting a nude photo of herself to a male classmate. He subsequently sent it to two female friends, who both texted the photo to everyone on their contacts lists. The police arrested the three teenagers on charges of felony child pornography; they were ultimately convicted of gross misdemeanor of telephone harassment. The sentence did not require jail time but asked each of them to prepare "public service materials about the hazards of sexting, attend a session with Margarite (the subject of the nude photo) to talk about what happened and otherwise have no contact with her." After a year of harassment, Margarite eventually transferred to another school.

The article offers some insightful remarks on adolescents, technology and sexuality (emphasis mine): 

Having a naked picture of your significant other on your cellphone is an advertisement that you’re sexually active to a degree that gives you status,” said Rick Peters, a senior deputy prosecuting attorney for Thurston County, which includes Lacey. “It’s an electronic hickey."

 But a double standard holds. While a boy caught sending a picture of himself may be regarded as a fool or even a boastful stud, girls, regardless of their bravado, are castigated as sluts. Photos of girls tend to go viral more often, because boys and girls will circulate girls’ photos in part to shame them, explained Danah Boyd, a senior social media researcher at Microsoft and a fellow at Harvard University’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society. In contrast, when a boy sends a revealing photo of himself to a girl, Dr. Boyd noted, she usually does not circulate it. And, Dr. Boyd added, boys do not tend to circulate photos of other boys: “A straight-identified boy will never admit to having naked photos of a boy on his phone." 

There are over 350 comments in response to the article, the very first of which I find pretty rational. Bill Randle says:

Lots of inappropriate and unethical behavior ensued in this case that should rightly be addressed by parents and educators and communities, but the fact that law enforcement and our criminal justice system took over perfectly exemplifies the extent to which our puritanical, fear-based, hysterical culture in America has turned into a police state.

Of course anything having to do with naked bodies -- especially those of pubescent children -- sends those who seek to control every aspect of human behavior into a tizzy. They can't stand the notion that millions -- yes millions -- of young people are exploring their sexuality outside the control of adults -- right now!

Rather than legislate and criminalize all inappropriate or emotionally harmful behavior and subsequently ruin the lives of the children involved by branding them criminals, how about we make an attempt to rationally and calmly work through these issues -- adults and children -- and find common ground as we attempt to educate kids on appropriate behavior.

 The NYT also

interviewed teenagers individually and in two focus groups. The first, in Manhattan, was organized by the Anti-Defamation League, which offers cyberbullying prevention programs. The second, with students from Lower Merion, a Philadelphia suburb, was coordinated by Stephanie Newberg, a therapist who works with adolescents, and Paula Singer, a community organizer.

• Kathy, 17, Queens: There’s a positive side to sexting. You can’t get pregnant from it, and you can’t transmit STDs. It’s a kind of safe sex.
• Joe, 17, Lower Merion: I don’t think those girls are insecure. I think they’re confident, and they know they’re hot.
• Glenn, 18, Long Island: I didn’t tell my parents I was doing this focus group because they don’t know what sexting is, and it would be awkward to talk about it.
• Saif, 18, Brooklyn: It’s a way to express your feelings. If a guy and a girl are in love, instead of saying it face to face, they can say it through technology.

Other articles in the NYT series

What They're Saying about Sexting

States Struggle with Minors' Sexting

As Bullies Go Digital, Parents Play Catch Up by

Online Bullies Pull Schools into the Fray

Random thoughts on Jared A. Ball Four Part Series, " Hip-Hop and the Corporate Music Industry"

1. I recommend reading all four parts. I was charged with reading the third part and questioned several of his premises - he wrote them as unexplained assumptions - but they were in fact set forth in earlier parts and were well defined.
2. Never used the term post-colonialism...really striking and powerful.
3. Title of the third part is interesting, 'Colonialism is the lens and hip-hop is the mirror.' There is that common assumption that hip-hop is about 'bad urban stuff' because it reflects the true gritty life of  Blackness. Ball does a good job dismantling this theory without explicitly doing so - when viewed with the colonialism lens selected by Ball, hip-hop functions as a mirror of white America's self-interested perception of Black America.
4. Crazy wack writing argh...he needs an editor! I was trying to read his writing with the understanding that it must be perpetuating his theories but really I just think it's not well edited. "This decision, it must be noted, also affects my own beloved Washington, DC Pacifica Radio affiliate..." (I don't think it needs noting but if you think it does - just write it!) "Most recently examples of this include the successful lobbying... (Wordy! Just write, 'Recent examples include..." or at least use a comma to distinguish the subject of the sentence) "Pertinent and entirely related that" (Redundant!)
5. D'Mite's Read A Book is hysterical and witty and way too catchy. I do appreciate Ball's comments that perhaps BET was willing to disseminate the video - despite it falling outside the mainstream themes of hip-hop - because it puts the pressure on the individual to change without critiquing or pressuring the system.
6. D'Mite's song Down Witchu is odd. The entire song is a super positive anthem all about being non-judgemental. Oh, ya know, except for that one verse at the 2:45 mark: "You can be straight or gay or a little confused, I might not be amused, but I'm cool witchu." WTF!
7. What do you think of D'Mite's Grown Ass Man? I found it really thought-provoking and interesting. Similar to Read a Book, it encourages its audience to be a good father, value land over other types of property, become educated...both songs are pretty elitist. I'd be interested in what our guest speaker has to say about them.

TALKING POINTS #5 // QUESTION FOR CLASS // WESCH

My question for class is a broad one - is college for everyone? Should so many attend? Are students benefiting from it? Are students prepared?

One of my concerns reading the Wesch article is that he is advocating dialogue between professor and student to such an extent that the student body - whether in one course or University-wide - begin to mold the essence of their education.

I have concerns with this. Universities have begun to incorporate student evaluations of professors when considering tenure, salary and hiring practices despite studies showing that a student evaluation directly correlates to a the grade a student anticipates receiving. This has resulted in a spiral effect of 'easier' teachers becoming increasingly more valuable to the University.

The New York Times article, "Plan B - Skip College" raises a number of interesting points about higher education in America.

For college students who ranked among the bottom quarter of their high school classes, the numbers are stark: 80 percent will probably never get a bachelor’s degree or even a two-year associate’s degree.
That can be a lot of tuition to pay, without a degree to show for it.
College degrees are simply not necessary for many jobs. Of the 30 jobs projected to grow at the fastest rate over the next decade in the United States, only seven typically require a bachelor’s degree, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Among the top 10 growing job categories, two require college degrees: accounting (a bachelor’s) and postsecondary teachers (a doctorate). But this growth is expected to be dwarfed by the need for registered nurses, home health aides, customer service representatives and store clerks. None of those jobs require a bachelor’s degree.
Professor Vedder likes to ask why 15 percent of mail carriers have bachelor’s degree. “Some of them could have bought a house for what they spent on their education,” he said.

I am concerned that as college becomes more of a rite of passage instead of a thoughtful option, educational standards will diminish as colleges and Universities cater to their diversely-prepared populations.

I need to come up with more thoughtful language to make this argument - I am afraid I am sounding elitist which isn't my intention. Perhaps some of you have resources I could look into on this subhect?

Blog posted today by teenage photographer Olivia Bee of teenagers in their bedrooms.