First Smartphone at 10 years for the Gen Z, as well as access to the Internet and with it all the dangers involved. Sharing hard material can lead to depression, shame, isolation and even suicide; moreover the law will be ready to severely punish issuer, receiver and parents.
A practice born with the growing sale of Smartphone, the explosion of social media and the Internet accessible to everyone, sexting is finding more than just a fertile ground.
This name means the practice of exchanging sexually explicit messages through texts, photographs, audio and video through any device connected to the network.
Although sex is often a taboo subject in society, this may not sound strange to many. After all, before these technologies, the ancestor of sexting was the simple call with the mobile phone, and even before that with the fixed line.
It’s a pure evolution of the media, creating a more “engaging” experience. And finally, the users are adults and vaccinated and it depends exclusively on them how to approach with their partner.
The problem then? That a large number of sexting practitioners are not adults at all, but minors, too many times under 16 years. This clearly has alarming consequences.
Contact us for any situation of sextortion, cyberbullying, nude content and sharing of hard material; we are ready to help you.
Index
The situation in no one’s hands
With a mobile phone and a web connection, anyone can make this practice their new leisure time. And with most of the boys of Generation Z receiving their first Smartphone around the age of 10, the picture becomes pretty clear.
The most thing to start as a kind of game, perhaps out of curiosity, or a challenge for those who go further; other times just to create the image of an experienced person who wants to make an impression on others, or show that you are not afraid to cross the line of modesty.
Whatever the motivation behind sexting between minors, nothing can change the dangerous consequences around the corner.
The scenario you’re dealing with is the worst enemy, where no one is really prepared:
- teenagers who are minors, even if they are digital natives and skilled in the use of new technologies, do not have the correct experience and maturity to handle these situations and to know what is the best action to take for their future;
- parents, on the other hand, are far from the world of their children, as they are not digital natives and too often unable to speak their own language and thus become a real guide for them.
The end result is a curious and developing teenager who explores the dangerous digital world without anyone at his side ready to guide him in the right directions. The equivalent of a trip to Central Park on a foggy night with a glittering Rolex in place.
That’s right, it’s not good.
The heavy consequences of the case
The scenario is therefore clear: kids who exchange photos and videos osé between them through instant messaging and social networks, on average with little attention to security and little judgment about the future.
Given the danger of all this, you have to understand what are all the risks related to the actions taken, some solvable, others even destined to end in jail.
Contact us for any situation of sexting, cyberbullying, nude content and sharing of hard material, we are ready to help.
There are two types of consequences: emotional and legal.
Emotional consequences
They are the ones that do not end up in a courtroom, but can do worse, pushing the boy in question to depression, isolation and, in extreme cases, even suicide.
EMBARRASSMENT AND HUMILIATION
Sending content about yourself naked or in erotic poses often creates a feeling of extreme embarrassment in the future, knowing that those files can always remain in circulation from that time onward.
And it all gets worse if the recipient is an untrustworthy person or if the relationship should end. At that point photos and videos could be shared online, maybe among schoolmates, bringing the subject to an extreme feeling of humiliation even just to leave the house.
GUILT AND SHAME
You then go on to accuse yourself of what you did, for taking that photograph and pressing the enter button. Being aware of having hard content shared among a wide audience, both friends and not, causes a deep sense of shame for one’s own person, feeling so vulnerable and at risk of depression.
(CYBER)BULLYING
Bullying is a problem that has always existed in any age group, but after a certain age it is called arrogance.
What is recent instead is cyberbullying, practiced through the web and often much more lethal than a punch at the lesson break.
A phenomenon that you need to learn how to prevent and fight, to keep your person and web reputation intact. Sexting is unfortunately a fertile ground for cyberbullying attacks.
An image sent to the wrong partner, a trusted person who was not really, ready to share content with the entire address book. And then in a moment everything turns into a nightmare, with shared files, judgments and comments behind and jokes from peers.
LOSS OF FRIENDS
As if that were not enough, in many cases bullying, shame and depression are dealt with in complete solitude, especially among young people, where friendships are fragile and dependent on the surrounding environment.
If a person gets involved in sexting and its photos put online, no one will want to risk being a second target of this public insult, afraid to be bullied in turn.
Contact us for any sexting situation, cyberbullying, nudity and hard material sharing; we’re ready to help.
This mix of extremely negative feelings and situations is extremely damaging to a minor, even more so if it is dealt with alone. Suicide cases are not uncommon unfortunately, as the teenager does not have the strength to fight all these problems and negativity.
Although the parent is not a digital native, he or she will have to be careful in case of behavioral changes in the child and think that sexting situations are not at all unusual.
Legal consequences
If the emotions described above did not seem to be enough, the axe of the law is ready to fall on the neck, both on the receivers and also on the victim herself.
CHARGE OF PAEDOPHILIA – PORNOGRAPHY
An illegal action associated with one or more adults exploiting and sharing hardcore material of minors on the web; yet the accused may be the same minors.
Although it may sound absurd, the law requires that anyone who is in possession of child pornographic material is automatically guilty. If, therefore, two teenagers have practiced sexting sharing and saving photos and videos from each other, they can be charged if the files were to be found by law enforcement agencies.
The receiver for possession of such material, while the sender for pure distribution (depends on the state of residence). Therefore, despite the total consent of both parties, the court will not allow reductions.
And if the files are discovered once the receiver has reached the age of majority, the subject will be treated as an adult, despite the fact that he was a minor, thus presenting the option of jail.
CHARGE OF A SEXUAL OFFENDER
Despite therefore a possible charge of imprisonment, you could also be listed as maniacs/sex offenders.
This is a serious accusation that will have a huge impact on the future of children, as it will always affect their criminal record and professional reputation.
LEGAL CONSEQUENCES FOR PARENTS
The parents themselves are in danger here. If it is discovered that they are aware of the sexting activity but do not intervene promptly to block it, the court will be ready to reserve more seats.
If the victim’s family also decides to report the child and their mother and father, there will be a legal dispute.
And in more extreme cases, Social Services could also take action. They will evaluate why the parents were aware of the fact and did not act to prevent the activity from continuing and could result in the removal of the child from the home and custody.
A scenario that starts badly, to turn into worse and end in tragedy; the sexting between minors is a practice full of extremely dangerous implications as we could see and the intervention of parents must be more than timely.
Not so much for the legal problems, but for the mental health of the child, who must be aware that he is not alone, but surrounded by people who love him and will help him.
Unfortunately, no matter how much interest there may be, parents have little power to act in these situations. How to delete videos from Youtube or photos that are circulating on the Internet? How to be sure that all content has been deleted? Who to contact?
These are real emergency situations where every minute is precious and we at ReputationUP are ready to run this race against time.
Contact us for any situation of sexting, cyberbullying, nude content and sharing of hard material; we are ready to help you.
We know strategies, sources, tools, dark spots and everything you need to end the nightmare of public sexting. Our team of experts takes every job seriously and treats it confidentially, from start to finish.
And so ensuring an end to this terrible nightmare, which over time will become just a bad memory and a strong life lesson on the value of the person.
