Sexting

Yet another reason I'm forced to admit it is better to be old than young. Also, another reason parents have to be just as tech-savvy as their children.

"Sexting".

The term refers to sending flirtatious and sexual content via mobile devices and/or computers. It's a long way from that hand-written note with the words "Do you like me? Circle Yes or No" which might have shuffled through a few hands to find the intended recipient. Today's kids just create 'sxy txts".

The Tennessean reported Sunday on the trend among teens (aged 13-19) and young adults (aged 20-26), with most saying they do send such messages and about 1 in 5 teens saying they had sent nude or topless photos of themselves to someone, and one-third of young adults. The full survey is here, with these results:

How do teens and young adults feel about sending/posting sexually suggestive content?
-- 75% of teens and 71% of young adults say sending sexually suggestive content “can have serious negative consequences.”

-- Yet, 39% of teens and 59% of young adults have sent or posted sexually suggestive emails or text messages— and 20% of teens and 33% of young adults have sent/posted nude or semi-nude images of themselves.

Text messages, instant messages and emails with sexual content gets sent quite frequently, according to the survey:

How many teens are sending or posting sexually suggestive messages?
-- 39% of all teens
-- 37% of teen girls
-- 40% of teen boys
-- 48% of teens say they have received such messages

How many young adults are sending or posting sexually suggestive messages?
-- 59% of all young adults
-- 56% of young adult women
-- 62% of young adult men
-- 64% of young adults say they have received such messages

Yeah, I would hate to have to provide photographic proof of my hotness or devotion, whether I was a teen, or a twenty-something or whatever. Odd, too that the majority of those who do send hot flashes to their peers also think the risk of something bad following on the heels of such "sexting" is quite likely. They do it anyway.

And my parents were worried I might drink or go dancing.

Since tech devices are pretty much permanently attached to the hands of someone under the aged of 25, I suppose such heavy usage as a form of flirting and sexual contact was inevitable.

I thought just finding the right words to say to a woman was tough. I knew some guys who would scale a building or something to spray-paint their initials and vows of love and devotion. Today, you'd have to digitize it, write it in text slang, upload the right image files and hurl it into cyberspace.

Talking is under-rated.