Sexting. I never, honestly, thought that such a thing would become an issue worthy of passing state laws over, but apparently it has become enough of a problem that such laws are necessary.
"Sexting" is the phrase given to text and picture messages that contain lewd acts/words and/or nudity. I've read other pieces that asked if this was a high-tech version of "I'll show you mine if you show me yours," and from what I can ascertain that is apparently the case.
The big question, however, is whether a new law regarding these instances will eradicate the problem and whether a law violates individuals' freedom of speech.
I'm not sure I'm qualified enough to throw my five cents in on that question in particular, but I have to say the idea of children sending nude pictures to other children is alarming. The parents should shoulder a good portion of the blame (whether the parents will admit to their own neglect is another question entirely), but the children who send the messages have to be held accountable and have it explained to them why their actions have consequences.
In this new age of technology, future employers are scanning people's Facebook and MySpace pages and are looking up their job hopefuls on Google before considering whether to hire them. A Facebook page with pictures of an individual doing a keg stand (or, with the issue of "sexting," a picture of an individual in the nude) does not put that person to the front of the line for a job, to say the least.
Is it disheartening to see that it may take the passage of a law to make this fact apparent? Of course! Everyone likes to think that people have more common sense than that! Unfortunately, that isn't always the case, and one has to weigh internally which of the two scenarios he or she favors more: a law against "sexting" which might, technically, have the chance of infringing on a persons rights, or a new flock of job seeking young men and women who can't find any serious employment because of stupid mistakes made when they were younger whom we, as society, must now pay for in the form of welfare and unemployment benefits.
Neither sounds particularly pleasing, and I'm not the type of person that usually favors societal infrastructure, but when given the choice between two very bitter pills, I find the former a bit more palatable.
Besides the societal effects of not passing legislation regarding this problem, there is the blatantly obvious reason that pops into one's head: children shouldn't be sending pictures and messages of a sexual nature anyway!
Travis Gearhart of Hebron is a sophomore at Ashford University, an online school. The opinion expressed in this column is the writer's and not necessarily that of The Times.
