Why sexting is dangerous for teenager’s health

Nobody is actually going to get a sexually transmitted disease because they are sexting or sending sexual text messages, including photos. Nonetheless, experts warn that adolescents who indulge in sexting were more likely to engage in unprotected sex.

Often times, when schools restrict the use of smart phones, many question the rationale behind this, stating that when students have their personal phones, communication with their parents would be easier. 

While some schools allow cell phones without cameras, some ban the use of cell phones outright because students end up playing games during classes or passing messages to one another when classes are ongoing. 

“I did not know you called me in school because my cell phone was placed in silence mode. My teacher must not see it or else it will be seized. You remember the school had banned students bring phones to school after they found students posting nude pictures to their mates,” responded Helen to her mother’s probing.

Smart phones can be a very useful tool, but in the hands of unsupervised teenages they can be very destructive. Parents who allow their children to have cell phones, especially smart phones, must work to be aware of how such children use the cell phones. 

A smart phone is more like a computer and can be hacked into as easily as a computer. For instance, any information, including photos sent somewhere electronically can end up on the Internet. 

Sexting, which is the practice of sending sexual text messages, including photos, usually by use of cell-phones, is rapidly becoming popular among adolescents. “Sext” has been around since about 2005 and the idea of exchanging or recording sexual material is not a new concept. 

Historically sexual material has been distributed by means of drawings, photographs and videos. Then along came the Internet through which electronic devices and social media outlets have changed the game of sexual exchanges. With a click of a button, a picture can be distributed to many people instantaneously. And once it’s out there, there’s no going back.

Sexting should be of concern to parents, doctors and teachers because studies have shown that students that send sexual text messages, including photos, are more likely to engage in risky sexual behaviour.

A study published in Paediatrics, which claimed that many American teenagers have sent a nude picture of themselves to another person, and that sexting results in associated sexual behaviour, appears to support this.

The new trial looked at data from over 1,800 high school students in Los Angeles and found out that teenagers who had sent pornographic texts (known as sexts) were seven times more likely to be sexually active than those who never sexted. Seventy-five per cent of them owned a cell phone that they used regularly.

Of the teens with cell phones, 54 per cent said they had friends who sext (pornographic texts), while 15 per cent reported that they themselves had participated in sexting.

Adolescents who reported taking part in this type of texting were found to be more sexually experienced than those who did not send the provocative text messages. They were also more likely to engage in unprotected sex, to have multiple sex partners and to use alcohol or drugs before sex.

An earlier similar study of Houston Texas high student aged 14 to 19 years, published in the journal Archives of Paediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, revealed that one in four students had sent a nude photo of themselves either by sexting or by e-mail. The conclusion also drawn in that study was that teenagers that indulge in pornographic texts were involved in risky sex behaviour.

The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention also sponsored a similar study that discovered that over 40 per cent of teenagers with a cell phone had engaged in sexual activity. Only about two thirds of them used protection.

Certainly, a teenager that is willing to text or e-mail a nude self-portrait is not sending it as a joke. She is likely also engaging in risky sexual behaviour. According to Dr Jibril Abdulmalik, a consultant psychiatrist, University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Oyo State, increasing use of smart phones has increased access of adolescents to information and influence of friends and different cultures.

He stated: “Social networking using smart phones had given them a window to a lot of information that might not be suitable for their age. They had access to conflicting information, including sex, which they are unable to decipher which is wrong and right.”

Unfortunately, he stated, “what a person thinks about influences his or her actions and decisions. Adolescents, especially, are very easily influenced by their peers.”

Moreover, he said that adolescents that indulge in sexting have a higher likelihood of indulging in the use of hard drugs. “The thinking is that hard drugs will make them to be bold to talk to girls and enjoy parties,” he stated.

Unfortunately, “what most adolescents do not realise is that hard drugs are addictive, they are habit forming. Once you take them the first time, your body enjoys the feeling and before you know it, it starts to crave for that drug.”

“Most hard drugs of abuse have harmful effects on the body-the brain, heart, liver and many other organs of the body. And there is also the danger that it may even lead to death from overdose.”

While use of cell phones in adolescents could have consequences on the emotional and mental health status of adolescents, Dr Abdulmalik stated that “their academic performance could also drop. So it is a problem for the society, family and the students themselves in terms of their future potential.”

What is more, Mr Olugbemi Olukolade, a clinical psychologist, at UCH, Ibadan, while corroborating that sexting by adolescents could predispose them to risky sexual behaviour, emphasised the need for good parent skills to help guide adolescents away from picking information or getting involved in things that could affect them.

According to Mr Olukolade, any parent desiring to give his or her teenager a cell phone, but also desiring to protect his or her child from sexual disease and sexual harm, must also take the time to monitor how the phone is used. 

While parents should not fear establishing rules for cell phone use, he suggested that parents must ensure they become part of the world of their children in order that they might have insight on what they do and as such be able to positively guide them on proper usage of social network and the Internet. 

Educating teens and parents about the legal implications of sexting are also critical. Currently, sexting can result in prosecution for violation of child pornography laws. With sexting, there is also the concern that naked photos will end up on the Internet and teens will be bullied online.

reports by Sade Oguntola.