Sally Kalson: Sexting ... and other stupid teen tricks

Posted by Kendall Harmon

I understand the frustration of adults who see kids doing things like this with no comprehension of the possible outcomes. That New Jersey teen may have intended those nude photos for her boyfriend (disturbing in and of itself), but she didn't seem to grasp that once those images were out in cyberspace, there would be no controlling where they went.

This is where the debate over who's really to blame begins to rage. It's the kids' fault for being so stupid. It's the parents' fault for not raising them with decent values or knowing what their offspring are up to. It's the media's fault for producing an endless flood of sexual imagery selling everything from music to breath mints. It's the youth culture's fault for normalizing the public sharing of every private thought and act. It's the computer geniuses' fault for building an infinite network that has spawned a viral world of unintended consequences.

There may be some truth in all of these. But teens have been known to foil the best intentions of their parents, and the media techno-genies are out of the bottle and not about to go back in.

Surely there is a better way to impress upon kids the importance of exercising common sense than by threatening to make them pariahs for life. "Re-education" classes are probably a good idea, but not under the threat of prosecution, which tends to create a fair amount of resistance.

Read it all. Interestingly, retired South Carolina Bishop Edward Salmon visited the parish which I serve this past Sunday and raised this very (uncomfrotable) subject during his adult Sunday school class--KSH.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Blogging & the Internet • Sexuality • Teens / Youth

4 Comments
Posted March 31, 2009 at 5:30 am [Printer Friendly] [Print w/ comments]



1. Harvey wrote:

It appears that Pandora’s box has been opened again.  Watching over your children’s shoulder, maintaining computer hours and even a key lock is useful.  “All the kids do it…” could be followed by a visit to “all the kids” parents and see if a united front is possible.  Could one “public” computer in the family room be enough for now?  Parents have every right to watch over their children’s activities even into their late teens.  The Biblical admonition of teaching a child the way they should follow so they will not depart from it when grown is still a good idea.

March 31, 11:53 am | [comment link]
2. Already left wrote:

I really don’t care if “all the other kids have one” my child will not have a cell phone until he is old enough to buy it and pay the bill. Are all parents out of their minds? Just because they can use one does not create a need.

March 31, 4:19 pm | [comment link]
3. Jeffersonian wrote:

A.L., we let our teenagers have cell phones once they began driving; we considered it a safety issue.  HOWEVER…all features of the phone - texting, internet, IM, downloads, shopping, etc. - are disabled.  It’s a phone, and nothing else.

March 31, 5:14 pm | [comment link]
4. Harvey wrote:

#3 A trimmed down phone sounds like a good idea to me!!!  I can remember years ago when car phones came out that laws were immediately passed that both hands stayed on the wheel.  In Virginia if you were involved in an accident while talking you were automatically at fault unless you had some good witnesses on your side.

March 31, 6:45 pm | [comment link]
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