Cause And Effect Essay On Teenage Sexting

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Teenage sexting is a growing epidemic amongst girls in today’s society. Sexting is sending any sexually explicit photos, videos, or messages via cell phone. According to internetsafety101.org, “20% of teens have sent or posted nude or seminude photographs or videos of themselves and 49% of teens believe sending and receiving sexts is very common at their age.” Teenage girls’ low self-esteem, peer pressure, and media’s promotion of hyper-sexuality are the causes of teenage sexting that lead to guilt, bullying, and in most extreme cases criminal charges. One of the most significant causes of teenage sexting is low-esteem. During the second semester of my 7th grade year, my friend sexted her boyfriend for the first time. When I asked her why …show more content…

Young people are bombarded with sexual images on a daily basis from media. Hollywood paints the picture that being a woman means being sexy. One of America’s top selling magazines, Cosmopolitan’s February 2016 issue has phrases like, “Look Hotter Naked” and “5 Ways to Keep Lust Alive”, plastered on the cover. Pop recording artist, Demi Lovato, recently posed for a nude photoshoot to showcase her new found confidence after suffering with an eating disorder and low self-esteem. Racy magazines and risqué celebrity photoshoots have a major effect on teenage girls, because it shapes their perception of womanhood.
An additional result of teenage sexting is guilt. A girl can feel ashamed about sexting, because it goes against her morals and/or she knows it would disappoint the people she is closest to her like her parents. In extreme cases, boys will use nude photos as blackmail against girls to keep them in a relationship by threatening to send the pictures elsewhere or post the pictures on social media. This leaves girls with lower self-esteem than before, because they will feel guilty about leaving their boyfriends on top of being ashamed of sexting in the first

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