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