Problem – Solution Essay Draft#3

The extensive usage of social media among early teenagers have led to many problems. However the most disturbing one is the sexting among early teenagers. Children as young as seven years old are involved in this dirty activity (Barrett, 2105).

According to the Oxford Dictionary, sexting is the sharing of explicit photographs or sexual text through mobile phones. A survey conducted by the Pediatrics journal shows that about 22% out of 410 grade seventh students in the U.S have participated in sexting (Younger, 2014). In-depth study or survey on this issue has not been conducted in Singapore. However, as an article by Koh (2014) demonstrates, sexting is slowly gaining momentum locally.

Because of the rise of sending explicit pictures and sexual texts among early teenagers of Singapore, the Ministry of Education should introduce classes in schools to educate the early teenagers about the dangers of sexting on social networking sites and apps.

There are several reasons for early teens to participate in sexting. The first and the foremost one is the heavy emphasis that teenagers have on their identity online (Rozen, 2015). With the craving to have the best profile online or to show that they are more adult-like than their friends, teenagers go to the extent of sharing explicit photos of themselves online. Another reason that prompts the teenagers to take such explicit pictures is due to hyper sexuality – the increased sexual behaviour at a young age. Teenagers with this unhealthy behaviour tend to imitate titillating models on media and consequently end up sexting.

In addition to the above stated reasons, another cause for sexting is the misconception among teenagers that their personal pictures are kept safe on their mobile phones. Any explicit pictures or text can be somehow retrieved by sexual predators. Sexual predators collect explicit pictures of people they have contacted on social media and then, blackmail the person in the picture to send more or to meet them in person. One such case occurred in Wisconsin, USA. David Weaver, 51 from Cedarburg, disguised himself as a young girl and collected explicit pictures and videos of more than 100 children across the country (Siewert, 2015). Even if a teenager does not get into any such troubles as mentioned above, they might face issues in the future. They might not even know that their sexts have been leaked out and that these can pose problems when they apply for universities or jobs in the future.

Clearly, the grievous consequences stated above create the urgency to stop the teenagers in Singapore from sexting at an early stage. Many nations have implemented various solutions to curb this trend among early teenagers. Depending upon the circumstances, a teenager sending, receiving or possessing explicit pictures or sexual texts can be prosecuted. In Singapore, sexting is dealt with under the Undesirable Publications Act (Ho, 2010). However, actions are only taken upon a complaint. Due to unclear penalties, a teenager would not file a complaint against the person who would have misused the sext that the teenager has sent. This is because the teenager, though being the victim, might fear being prosecuted for sending such unacceptable texts or pictures in the first place (Computerworld Singapore, 2012).                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   As cases related to sexting are more in the west, legal measures have been carefully drafted by the legislative authorities, keeping in mind that there are children under the age of 18 involved in such cases. For example in Texas, a law has been passed that considers the initial attempt of sexting by a minor as  misdemeanor. If the child finishes his or her sexting education course, the child is sentenced to community supervision.  This law has clear penalties and has been drafted specifically for teenagers. This will not affect their lives as much as if they are sentenced to the same penalty of an adult, like imprisonment.

 Even though, sexting has become widespread and has led to critical cases in the U.S, a survey shows that not many students know it is illegal. This makes legal actions taken to reduce sexting among teenagers less than effective. Hence teenagers have to be educated about the issues of sexting and be informed that sexting can be against the law.

Almost all schools in Singapore conduct talks and class discussions on cyber bullying. These help educate youngsters generally on how to protect themselves in the cyber world. However, the Ministry of Education should focus on sexting particularly as it is now the new trend. It will be very effective if sexting and other related issues are dealt as an ungraded subject introduced as early as in primary schools. The content can be modified so that it is appropriate for different age groups. In higher secondary level, the moral and ethical conduct on social networking sites can be taught along with religious and ethnic beliefs, so that even if some teens do not think it is wrong to share sexts, they might be moved when they are reminded with the fact that sexting is wrong according to his or her religion or ethnic beliefs.

In conclusion, in a city like Singapore which is constantly under the external influences, it would not take a long time for sexting to become prevalent situation. As teens are lured to sext due to their misconceptions and wrong beliefs about sexual life, it is necessary for the Ministry of Education to formulate a course or subject in school to cultivate good values and ethics which will discourage immoral activities like sexting at a young age. However, one has to notice that sexting started among the adults initially and then taken up by the teenagers. So should not the adults be also educated on ethical conduct on social networking sites and apps and the legal ramifications for sexting?

(950 words)

REFERENCE:

  1) Barrett, D. (2015, March 10). ‘Sexting: Girls as young as seven in explicit videos online’. The Telegraph. Retrieved from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/children/11460757/Sexting-Girls-as-young-as-seven-post-explicit-videos-online.html

  2) Koh, M. (2014, March 18). ‘Sexting is safe’. Asianone20 Singapore. Retrieved from http://news.asiaone.com/news/singapore/sexting-safe
  3) Younger, S. (2014, January 6). Nearly a quarter of seventh graders are sexting –what parents can do about it. Chicagonow. Retrieved from http://www.chicagonow.com/tween-us/2014/01/nearly-a-quarter-of-seventh-graders-are-sexting-what-parents-can-do-about-it/
  4)     Rozen, C. (2015, January 28). How social media is making teens unhappy. Sun sentinel. Retrieved from http://www.sun-sentinel.com/teenlink/fl-tl-how-social-media-is-making-teens-unhappy-20150128-story.html
  5)     Siewert, S. (2015, February 20). Swapping nude images spells trouble for teens. Postcrescent.com Retrieved from http://www.postcrescent.com/story/news/investigations/2015/02/20/teen-sexting-rise-wisconsin/23691927/
  6) Ho, V. (2010, April 12). ‘Sexting’ carries stricter laws in Asia. ZDNet.com. Retrieved from http://www.zdnet.com/article/sexting-carries-stricter-laws-in-asia/
  7) Sexting penalties too harsh: study. (2013, April 12). Computerworld Singapore. Retrieved from http://www.computerworld.com.sg/resource/legal/sexting-penalties-too-harsh-study/

Problem – Solution Essay Draft#2

Teenagers now have moved from “text me later” messages to “sext me later”. According to the Oxford Dictionary sexting is the sharing of explicit photographs or sexual text through mobile phones. As young as 10 year olds send sexts to their friends. A survey shows that about 22% out of 410 grade seventh students in the U.S have participated in sexting (Younger, 2014). Though it might be not that prevalent and serious in Singapore, sexting is slowly gaining momentum among young teenagers. In-depth study or survey on this issue has not been conducted in Singapore. However, as article by Koh (2014) demonstrates, sexting is slowly gaining momentum in Singapore.

Because of the rise of sending explicit pictures and sexual texts among young teenagers of Singapore, the Ministry of Education should introduce interesting classes in schools to educate the young teenagers about the dangers of sexting on social networking sites and apps.

There are several reasons for teens to participate in sexting. The first and the foremost one is that the pressure among the young teens to gain popularity among their real friends as well as their virtual ones on social networking sites (Rozen, 2015). And social media has proven to be a powerful tool for the teenagers, who have gone to the extent of sharing their nude selfies with their friends, to increase their popularity. Another reason that prompts the teenagers to take such explicit pictures is due to hyper sexuality – the increased sexual behaviour at a young age.

  

Teenagers think that their personal pictures are kept safe on their mobile phones. However, such data are somehow retrieved by sexual predators. Sexual predators collect explicit pictures of oneself and blackmail the person in the picture to send more or to meet them in person. One such case was dealt in Wisconsin, USA. David weaver, 51 from Cedarburg, disguised himself as a young girl and collected explicit pictures and videos of more than 100 children across the country (Siewert, 2015). Even if a teenager does not get into any such troubles as mentioned above, they might face issues in the future. They might not even know that their sexts have been leaked out and that these can pose problems when they apply for universities or jobs in the future.

Clearly, the grievous consequences stated above creates the urgency to stop the teenagers in Singapore from sexting at an early stage.

Many nations have implemented various measures to curb this trend among young teenagers. Depending upon the circumstances, a teenager sending, receiving or possessing explicit pictures or sexual texts can be prosecuted. In Singapore, sexting is dealt under Undesirable Publications Act (Ho, 2010). However, actions are only taken upon a complaint. Due to unclear penalties, a teenager would not file a complaint against the person who would have misused the sext that the teenager has sent. This is because the teenager, though being a victim, might fear of being prosecuted for sending such unacceptable texts or pictures in the first place (Computerworld Singapore, 2012).                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

As cases related to sexting are more in the west, legal measures are carefully drafted keeping in mind that there are children under the age of 18 involved in such cases. For example in Texas, a law has been passed that performs a misdemeanour on the initial attempt of sexting by a minor. If the child finishes his or her sexting education course, the child is sentenced to community supervision.  This law has clear penalties and has been drafted specially for the teenagers. This will not affect their lives as much as if they are sentenced to the same penalty of an adult, like imprisonment.

 Even though, sexting has become widespread and have led to critical cases in the U.S, a survey shows that not many students know it is illegal. This makes legal actions taken to reduce sexting among teenagers ineffective. Hence teenagers have to be educated about the issues of sexting and be informed that it can be held against the law.

Almost all schools in Singapore conduct talks and class discussions on cyberbullying. These help educate youngsters generally on how to protect themselves in the cyber world. However, the Ministry of Education should focus on sexting particularly as it is now the new trend. It will be very effective if sexting and other related issues are dealt as an ungraded subject introduced as early as in primary schools. The content can be modified so that it is appropriate for different age groups. In higher secondary level, the moral and ethical conduct on social networking sites and apps can be taught along with religious and ethnic beliefs. This will not alone help to reduce the trend of sexting among Singaporean teenagers but also promises to develop the future generation with lesser sex crimes and issues like teenage pregnancy. Such an optimistic statement can be strongly supported by a study referred in the article “‘Sexting’ initiates sexual behaviour among teenagers: study” (2014) that has been conducted in the United States. It shows that teenagers who are sexting are at high chances of being sexually active.

In conclusion, in a city like Singapore which is constantly under the external influences, it would not take a long time for sexting to become prevalent situation. As teens are lured to sext due to their misconceptions and wrong believes about sexual life it is necessary for the Ministry of Education to formulate a course or subject in school to cultivate good values and ethics which will discourage immoral activities like sexting at a young age. However, one has to think. Did not sexting started among the adults first and then later taken up by the teens. So should not the adults be also educated on ethical conduct on social networking sites and apps?

(952 words)

REFERENCE:

     1) Koh, M. (2014, March 18). ‘Sexting is safe’. Asianone20 Singapore. Retrieved from http://news.asiaone.com/news/singapore/sexting-safe

     2) Younger, S. (2014, January 6). Nearly a quarter of seventh graders are sexting –what parents can do about it. Chicagonow. Retrieved from http://sg.theasianparent.com/sexting/

     3) Rozen, C. (2015, January 28). How social media is making teens unhappy. Sun sentinel. Retrieved from http://www.sun-sentinel.com/teenlink/fl-tl-how-social-media-is-making-teens-unhappy-20150128-story.html

     4) Siewert, S. (2015, February 20). Swapping nude images spells trouble for teens. Postcrescent.com Retrieved from http://www.postcrescent.com/story/news/investigations/2015/02/20/teen-sexting-rise-wisconsin/23691927/

     5)  Ho, V. (2010, April 12). ‘Sexting’ carries stricter laws in Asia. ZDNet.com. Retrieved from http://www.zdnet.com/article/sexting-carries-stricter-laws-in-asia/

     6) Sexting penalties too harsh: study. (2013, April 12). Computerworld Singapore. Retrieved from http://www.computerworld.com.sg/resource/legal/sexting-penalties-too-harsh-study/

     7) ‘Sexting’ initiates sexual behaviour among teenagers: study. (2014, October 6). Gulfnews.com. Retrieved from http://gulfnews.com/news/world/usa/sexting-initiates-sexual-behaviour-among-teenagers-study-1.1394863

Problem – Solution Essay Draft-1b

Teenagers now have moved from “text me later” messages to “sext me later”. According to the Oxford Dictionary sexting is the sharing of explicit photographs or sexual text through mobile phones. As young as 10 year olds send sexts to their friends. A survey shows that about 22% out of 410 grade seventh students in the U.S have participated in sexting (Younger, 2014). Though it might be not that prevalent and serious in Singapore, sexting is slowly gaining momentum among young teenagers of Singapore too.

Because of the rise of sending explicit pictures and sexual texts among young teenagers of Singapore, the Ministry of Education should introduce interesting classes in schools to educate the young about the dangers of sexting on social networking sites and apps.

There are several reasons for teens to participate in sexting. The first and the foremost one is that the pressure among the young teens to gain popularity among their real friends as well as their virtual ones on social networking sites (Rozen, 2015). And social media has proven to be a powerful tool for the teenagers, who have gone to the extent of sharing their nude selfies with their friends, to increase their popularity. Another reason that prompts the teenagers to take such explicit pictures is due to hyper sexuality – the increased sexual behaviour at a young age.  

Many might wonder why such an unethical act is gaining popularity among teenagers. A survey has revealed that often a teenager engages in sexting only after he has received such. Though sharing of explicit photographs and sexual texts are widespread, it is a pity that many do not know its long-lasting effects and it can be against the law if caught.

Teenagers think that their personal pictures are kept safe on their mobile phones. However, such data are retrieved somehow by sexual predators. Sexual predators collect explicit pictures of oneself and blackmail the person in the picture to send more or to meet them in person. One such case was dealt in Wisconsin, USA. David weaver, 51 from Cedarburg, disguised himself as a young girl and collected explicit pictures and videos of more than 100 children across the country (Siewert, 2015). Even if a teenager does not get into any such troubles as mentioned above, they might face issues in the future. They might not even know that their sexts have been leaked out and that these can pose problems when they apply for universities or jobs in the future.

Clearly, the grievous consequences stated above creates the urgency to stop the teenagers from sexting at an early stage.

Many nations have implemented various measures to curb this trend among young teenagers. Depending upon the circumstances, a teenager sending, receiving or possessing explicit pictures or sexual texts can be prosecuted. In Singapore, sexting is dealt under Undesirable Publications Act (Ho, 2010). However, actions are only taken upon a complaint. Due to unclear and penalties, a teenager would not file a complaint against the person who would have misused the sext that the teenager has sent. This is because the teenager, though being the victim, might fear of being prosecuted for sending such  unacceptable  texts or pictures in the first place (Computerworld Singapore, 2012).                                                                                                                                                                                       

As cases related to sexting are more in the west, legal measures are carefully drafted keeping in mind that there are children under the age of 18 involved in such cases. For example in Texas, a law has been passed that performs a misdemeanour on the initial attempt of sexting by a minor. If the child finishes his or her sexting education course, the child is sentenced to community supervision.  This law has clear penalties and drafted specially for the teenagers. This will not affect their lives as much as if they are sentenced to the same penalty of an adult, like imprisonment.

 As even though, sexting has become widespread and have led to critical cases in the U.S, a survey shows that not many students know it is illegal. Hence, before sexting becomes a major issue in Singapore, the students have to be educated on this sensitive issue. Almost all schools in Singapore conduct talks and class discussions on cyberbullying. These help educate youngsters generally on how to protect themselves in the cyber world. However, the Ministry of Education should focus on sexting particularly as it is now the new trend. It will be very effective if sexting and other related issues are dealt as an ungraded subject introduced as early as in primary schools. The content can be modified so that it is appropriate for different age groups. In higher and secondary level, the moral and ethical conduct on social networking sites and apps can be taught along with religious and ethnic beliefs. This will not alone help to reduce the trend of sexting among Singaporean teenagers but also promises to develop the future generation with lesser sex crimes and issues like teenage pregnancy. Such an optimistic statement can be strongly supported by a study referred in the article “‘Sexting’ initiates sexual behaviour among teenagers: study” (2014) that has been conducted in the United States. It shows that teenagers who are sexting are at high chances of being sexually active.

In conclusion, in a city like Singapore which is constantly under the external influences, it would not take a long time for sexting to become prevalent situation. As teens are lured to sext due to their misconceptions and wrong believes about sexual life it is necessary for the Ministry of Education to formulate a course or subject in school to cultivate good values and ethics which will discourage immoral activities like sexting at a young age. However, one has to think. Did not sexting started among the adults first and then later taken up by the teens. So should not the adults be also educated on ethical conduct on social networking sites and apps?

(973 words)

Reference:

1)    Younger, S. (2014, January 6). Nearly a quarter of seventh graders are sexting –what parents can do about it. Chicagonow. Retrieved from http://sg.theasianparent.com/sexting/

2)    Rozen, C. (2015, January 28). How social media is making teens unhappy. Sun sentinel. Retrieved from http://www.sun-sentinel.com/teenlink/fl-tl-how-social-media-is-making-teens-unhappy-20150128-story.html

3)    Siewert, S. (2015, February 20). Swapping nude images spells trouble for teens. Postcrescent.com Retrieved from http://www.postcrescent.com/story/news/investigations/2015/02/20/teen-sexting-rise-wisconsin/23691927/

4)    Ho, V. (2010, April 12). ‘Sexting’ carries stricter laws in Asia. ZDNet. Retrieved from http://www.zdnet.com/article/sexting-carries-stricter-laws-in-asia/

5)   Sexting penalties too harsh: study. (2013, April 12). Computerworld Singapore. Retrieved from http://www.computerworld.com.sg/resource/legal/sexting-penalties-too-harsh-study/

 6)‘Sexting’ initiates sexual behaviour among teenagers: study. (2014, October 6). Gulfnews.com. Retrieved from http://gulfnews.com/news/world/usa/sexting-initiates-sexual-behaviour-among-teenagers-study-1.1394863

An Influential Event

I knew that she would not pick up the phone, yet I called her. After few rings I heard the "beep" sounds. She had cut my call. I felt aggrieved. I decided to call her several times to annoy her. She let the phone cry and consequently made me cry too.

Rani and I were good friends for three long years. However during our last year at school together, things were not smooth. She started withdrawing herself from me and as well as from our other friends.

I was wiping my tears and was trying to vent my heart ache, when I heard my phone buzz. Though I knew Rani would not text or call, I prayed hard that it should be a message from her. But as feared, it was not her. It was my 10^th grade friend, Nabi. He was my really good buddy when I was studying in Middle East for just eleven months. We had amazing moments together. His jovial texts cheered me up, though the phone call incident ruffled my feathers occasionally. That day, before I went to bed, a realisation about life pulled a smile across my face. One of my dearest turned me down and just after several minutes Nabi texts me to renew our old friendship. From this incident, I have truly understood that nothing or no one is going to stay with us forever. On the other hand, when something or someone is taken away, it is always replaced. 

Problem – Solution Essay Draft-1

Teenagers now have moved from “text me later” messages to “sext me later”. According to the Oxford Dictionary sexting is the sharing of explicit photographs or sexual text through mobile phones. As young as a 10 year old kid sext his or her friends. A survey shows that about 22% out of 410 grade seven students in the U.S have participated in sexting (1). Though it might be not that prevalent and serious and Singapore, sexting is slowly gaining momentum among young teenagers of Singapore too.

There are several reasons for teens to participate in sexting. The first and the foremost one is that the pressure among the young teens to gain popularity among their real friends as well as their virtual ones on social networking sites (2). And social media has proven to be a powerful tool for the teenagers who have gone to the extent of sharing their nude selfies with their friends. Another reason that prompts the teenagers to take such explicit pictures is due to hyper sexuality – the increased sexual behaviour in teens.  

Many might wonder why such an unethical act is gaining popularity among teenagers. A survey has revealed that often a teenager engages in sexting only after he has received such. Though many sharing of explicit photographs and sexual texts are widespread, it is a pity that many do not know its long-lasting effects and most importantly, it might be against the law if caught.

Because of the rise of sending explicit pictures and sexual texts among young teenagers of Singapore, the Ministry of Education should introduce interesting classes in schools to educate the young about the dangers of sexting on social networking sites and apps.

It is necessary to stop the teenagers from sexting at an early stage as sexting has grievous consequences. The most obvious one is that sexual messages and explicit photos of oneself can be easily distributed once it has reached the wrong hands. The aftermath might be that the teenager might not be able to go to school the next day, fearing humiliation, or it can be as serious as suicide attempts. Teenagers think that their personal pictures are kept safe on their mobile phones. However, such data are retrieved somehow by sexual predators. Sexual predators collect explicit picture of oneself and blackmail the person in the picture to send more or to meet them in person. One such case was dealt in Wisconsin, USA. David weaver, 51 from Cedarburg, disguised himself as a young girl and collected explicit pictures and videos of more than 100 children across the country (3). Even if a teenager does not get into any such troubles as mentioned above, they might face issues in the future. They might know that their sexts have been leaked out. This poses problems when they apply for universities or jobs in the future.

Many nations have implemented various measures to curb this trend among young teenagers. Depending upon the circumstances, a teenager sending, receiving or possessing explicit pictures or sexual texts can be prosecuted. In Singapore, sexting is dealt under Undesirable Publications Act (4). However                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   actions are only taken upon a complaint. Due to unclear and penalties, a teenager would not file a complaint against the person who would have misused the sext that the teenager has sent. This is because the teenager, though being the victim, might fear of being prosecuted for sending such inacceptable texts or pictures in the first place.

As cases related to sexting are more in the west, legal measures are carefully drafted keeping in mind that there are children under the age of 18 involved in such cases. For example in Texas, a law has been passed that performs a misdemeanour on the initial attempt of sexting by a minor. If the child finishes his or her sexting education course, the child is sentenced to community supervision.  This law has clear penalties and drafted specially for the teenagers. Such clear laws are important as if teenagers are sentenced to the same penalties as the adults, teenagers’ future will be affected. And moreover, the intention behind sexting among young teenagers are different from that of the majors. Young teenagers often do it thinking it is fun and common.   

 As even though, sexting has become widespread and have led to critical cases in the U.S, a survey shows that not many students know it is illegal. Hence, before sexting becomes a major issue in Singapore, the students have to be educated on this sensitive issue. The Ministry of education plays an important role in this. It will be very effective if sexting and other related issues are dealt as an ungraded subject introduced as early as in primary schools. The content can be modified so that it is appropriate for different age groups. In higher and secondary level, the moral and ethical conduct on social networking sites and apps can be taught along with religious and ethnic beliefs. This will not alone help to reduce the trend of sexting among Singaporean teenagers but also promises to develop the future generation with lesser sex crimes and issues like teenage pregnancy. This suggestion can be strongly supported by a study that has been conducted in the United States. It shows that teenagers who are sexting are at high chances of being sexually active or to have unprotected sex (6).

In conclusion, in a city like Singapore which is constantly under the external influences, it would not take a long time for sexting to become prevalent situation. As teens are lured to sext due to their misconceptions and wrong believes of sexual life it is necessary for the Ministry of Education to formulate a course or subject in school to cultivate good values and ethics which will discourage any immoral activities like sexting at a young age. However, one has to think. Did not sexting started among the adults first and then later taken by the teens. So should not the adults be also educated on ethical conduct on social networking sites and apps?

(998 words)

Problem - Solution Essay Outline

Thesis statement - 

Because of unmonitored usage of social media which has normalized the sharing of explicit photos and sexual texts among preteens of the U.S, the government should use the same social media to reverse the culture.

Supporting Details

1)      Children aren’t monitored on social media

-          Most of the Parents think social media is safe (79 percnet). They are complacent, thinking that they have taken all necessary steps to protect their child in the other world- internet and social media.

-          Parents do not know where all their children have accounts.

-          Parents complain that they do not have time to keep up with their tech savvy child. 

-          Children move out of sites where parents can track their activities, e.g, Facebook

-          It’s easily accessible, as though there are no age limits for many sites. Even if there is one, preteens have an option to create fake accounts.

-          Supporting details to (1)

o   Fast growing technology makes it hard for parents to track on their children’s social life. 

o   Rise of Anonymous apps – Not all parents know about them.

o   Apps like Snapchat, children think it’s safe and private.

o   If the government or school or parents do not allow their child to use one site or app, the kids use another.

2)      Reasons for the preteens to get  involved in sexting

-          Their age and their developing brain

o   Rely more on their friends who themselves are not yet developed to think what is it right or wrong.

o   Drive to try new things.

o   Peer pressure – Children have built up their confidence with their identity on social media. They compare that with that of their friends. Hence, children go to the extreme of taking nude selfies and send that to their friends to get compliments

o   the urge to impress friends or boy/girlfriends – As after all their children and all they want is acceptance in the society, they don’t want to be left out

o   Wants fast rewards.

o   Boys – for fun, Girls – want to be liked, to look sexy and provocative. 

-          Early and not guided exposure to sexual issues.

o    Light sexual remarks and  teasing  are part of a child's development as they figure out who they are and how they will present themselves to others. It takes some time to decide what is wrong and right. They need guidance.

o   Children are scared to do face to face sexually but their zest lures them to perform it in the virtual world.

3)      How and why is it Normalized?

-          Carried away by the fact that others are doing so am I.

-          Received one such texts or pictures.

-          Many does not know it is wrong and now against the law.

4)      Steps taken ad their drawbacks inside the parenthesis

-          Laws enforced – Imprisonment if child pornographic pictures held, sent or received. (but punishments depends on the age, a child can’t be punished harshly ). 

-          Ohio crafted an unorthodox sentence to help a group of minors understand the harm of distributing nude photos of themselves.

-          Parents are to talk about this matter and its long-lasting side-effects. ( As mentioned earlier, preteens start to rely more on their peers on evidences in the outside world)

-          Main issue: Children are not aware of the legal consequence of this action. And they do not know how sexts, their explicit photo can haunt them in the future.

5)      Suggested measures

-          Government should create awareness by enforcing all schools to discuss this issue in class.

-          The Government must create a committee which should create awareness among children as well as their parents through social media.

o   Keep parents informed about the latest and popular social networking sites and Apps.

o   Just like in Singapore where cigarette packets carry gruesome images that depicts the side effects of smoking, the committee should pose messages or images that boycotts “sexting” at possible networking sites and apps. Whenever, kids open their accounts they should be able to see such messages.