Sexting Stupidity
The notorious case where New Berlin Eisenhower student Anthony Stancl got numerous boys to send him nude pictures of themselves shocked our community. It made us aware of an activity called 'sexting' and its perils.
Sexting: the act of sending sexually explicit messages or photographs via electronic devices
In her Feb. 20, 2009 Journal-Sentinel column “Parents Can Fight Sexting Stupidity”, Laurel Walker warned, “most of us couldn’t conceive of taking pictures of our naked teenage bodies and sending them to anyone. Heck, we even hated dressing in front of the same sex in gym class. But it’s different today. For too many kids, ‘sexting’—shipping sexually explicit photos with the touch of a SEND button –is no big deal.”
Yeah, children can be naïve, impulsive or reckless. Kids don’t always realize the ramifications of their actions.
A 2009 Journal Sentinel editorial "Beware of Predators" put it this way: “Showing someone naked pictures of yourself is a bad idea no matter what medium you’re using.” It also cautioned, “Internet social networking can be a lot of fun and even a valuable tool. But this brave new world still requires common sense and moral behavior.”
Of course, that applies to adults, too.
Too bad NFL quarterback Brett Favre and Congressmen Christopher Lee and Anthony Wiener did not grasp that concept but instead used such incredibly poor judgment.
What in the world were those men thinking?
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Update June 16:
Rep. Anthony Wiener resigned from office today. Click here to view a CNN news article and video.
"Under pressure from his fellow Democrats, Representative Anthony Wiener resigned on Thursday," states a New York Times opinion/'"room for debate" piece posted today. And it says, " Democrats and some Republicans are asking: What about Senator David Vitter of Louisiana, a family-values Republican, who hired prostitutes and, in at least one instance, tried to book one while he was on the House floor. He had denied accusations that he had consorted with hookers until his name appeared in the diary of the so-called D.C. Madam."
On her show, Rachel Maddow points out the hypocrisy of Republican leaders pushing for Wiener's resignation but not Vitter's.
