Social media makes information more accessible to internet users. Almost all information went online nowadays and internet users gain access to them instantly. This indeed brings great convenience to the human race. However, social media also makes illegal material circulates quicker and further. Messages are brought to inappropriate audience without proper censorship. To make things worse, teenagers are not passively exposed to pornography online today, they are actively exchanging inappropriate photos of themselves, a phenomenon know as sexting(Siewert, 2015). Parents face great challenge to monitor what their teenage children send and receive through social media.
According to Siewert, teenagers make use of instant communication function of social media to send nude photos of themselves to their girlfriend or boyfriend in the United State of America (USA). They innocently believe that their photos would stay private, but their photos actually circulate among their peers or even spread to online pornography websites. Many youngsters do not know that sending or owning sexually explicit photos of anyone under the age of seventeen is considered as child pornography, which is criminal. Jaffe (2015) also mentions in his article that some teenagers post photos of themselves on social media, such as Instagram, to attract attention. Predators then make use of direct message to ask for more sexually explicit photos from them. These teenagers are at high risk of sexual harassment.
Juvenile may face five years mandatory sentences upon receipt, distribution and production of child pornography in the USA (Child Pornography Sentences, n.d.). Most teenagers do not know the consequences of child pornography and many think that it is no big deal since most peers are doing it. However, criminalising all the innocent teenagers does not solve the problem. Siewert mentions in her article that some states take alternative approaches to penalise teenagers who engaged in chid pornography. For example, in Texas minors who caught for sexting for the first time would be sentenced to community supervision upon completion of sexting education course. Elsewhere, minors are sentenced to serve community-service projects to raise awareness of sexting. Indeed, they should be given a second chance to understand the aftereffect of sexting and child pornography.
The measures that have been done so far are mostly punitive. This will only prevent teenagers from repeating the same act, but not preventing their peers from committing the same crime. This is because teenagers tend to take the risk, thinking that they will not be caught for sexting. Preventive measures that focus on school education program should be adopted to complement punitive measures. The purpose of education program is to change the cognition of teenagers who think that sexting is not a big deal. These education programs should serve to educate teenagers about various consequences of sexting. Also, authorities like social media sites and parents should practise censorship to the minors. By doing so, the number of first time offenders would be greatly reduced.
Law enforcement in the United States should work closely with high schools in the US to come up with educational programs that serve to alert students about various consequences of sexting and child pornography. Teenagers may take the risk of sending photos of themselves to their girlfriends or boyfriends thinking that they will not be caught for it. However, they have to understand that legal issues are not the only problems they may face for sexting. The educational program should inform them the risk of their photos being spread to others or even online websites. This may leads to blackmails or sexual assault. These minors are exposing themselves to unknown risks. Some real life examples of blackmails or sexual harassment can be presented during the education program to deter teenagers from sexting.
In addition, online social media like Facebook and Instagram should practise censorship more strictly to those who are under the age of eighteen. Once inappropriate photos of minors are detected, social media should have the right to inform guardians of the minors. Social media should also alert teenagers when they have friend or follower request from an ambiguous individual. This is to protect them form predators of child pornography online. The guardians should conduct impromptu check of their minors’ phones and computers to make sure that they do not own photos of child pornography including themselves. Some may argue that the privacy of minors is being compromised and their human rights are infringed. However, when teenagers cannot make right decisions for themselves, their legal representatives should have the right to protect them from jeopardy.
In conclusion, US courts should continue to penalise teenagers who misuse social media as a medium for sexting and child pornography. At the same time, law enforcement and schools complement punitive measures by providing preventive education programs. Authorities practise necessary censorship to the minors to protect them from illegal acts. These all sum together to allow social media to provide a conducive space for sharing.
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Child Pornography Sentences. Families Against Mandatory Minimums. Retrieved from http://famm.org/affected-families/child-pornography-sentences/
Jaffe, A. (27 February 2015). The disturbing ways some teens are using Instagram. Identities Mic. Retrieved from http://mic.com/articles/111304/the-disturbing-way-teens-are-really-using-instagram
Stewart, S. (22 February 2015). Sapping nude images spells danger for teems. USA Today. Retrieved from http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/02/21/swapping-nude-images-spells-trouble-teens/23824495/
Hi Cindy! After reading your article, I understand that the main problem is social media is being used by teanagers for pornography in USA (is it only in USA which is I am not sure, as there is no specific discussion about cases in USA only in the following solutions.)
ReplyDelete"teenagers are not passively exposed to pornography online today, they are actively exchanging inappropriate photos of themselves, a phenomenon know as sexting(Siewert, 2015). Parents face great challenge to monitor what their teenage children send and receive through social media."
-- I do not think it is appropriate to use the words "passive" and "active" as there is no passively being exposed to something, we are just exposed to.(Sorry I do not know how to explain, if you could not understand what I am saying, please contact me and I will explain in person or on phone 83982181.)
--Why are parents facing greater challenge in monitoring? Please explain and illustrate more on this point. I still did not see further explanation about this in the following solution by parents.
"Elsewhere, minors are sentenced to serve community-service projects to raise awareness of sexting. Indeed, they should be given a second chance to understand the after effect of sexting and child pornography. "
--I do not think that this is necessarily to be added as you are discussing about the solutions to solve this problem, not "should teenagers be penalized heavily"
"This will only prevent teenagers from repeating the same act, but not preventing their peers from committing the same crime"
--I think this is quite a good summary why the current measures are not effective and it is going to distinct the current solution being used from the following solutions you are going to bring about well.
--However, I did not see your following solutions doing much about preventing teenagers from getting involved in pornography
--As you mentioned that teenagers are frequently involved in pornography because they tend to take risks, I think the solution of giving education will not be effective enough, because it does not solve the problem of taking risk nature.
--"law enforcement": I do not think it is effective also, it is the same case as the way Singapore Government punishes people who litter, the penalty is getting more and more serious, but it never solve the problem of people taking risk to do it.
--"censorship": I do think this is a good point. You mentioned the censorship carried out by both social media sites and parents. Especially the part social media sites can inform the teenagers' parents if there is any pornography found, well done!
I think you can try to make use of more outside souce to support your solutions like how effective will they work.
There are some vocabulary and language use which I find quite weird. For example:
This indeed brings great convenience to the human race. (Human Race??)
However, social media also makes illegal material circulates quicker and further. (circulates??)
p/s: there are some typing error, you can check using microsoft word to correct it.
Thank you for your effort, Cindy. Jiayou!