In a nationwide survey, forty-three percent of teenagers claimed to have partaken in the act of “sexting” (Steinburg). Sexting is a term used to describe a sexual photo sent out to others through a text message (Ferguson). Are you part of the forty-three percent sending out nude photos? Teenagers are warned that the repercussions of sexting are unwanted, but most still make the imbecilic move of sending out nude pictures. In the eyes of some, sexting is a harmless act, but in the eyes of others, it is a controversial mess. Sending out explicit photos of yourself often leads to a damaged reputation, harm to your education, and life-long consequences.

Sending out a photo of a nude person is a stupid decision. If you receive a naked photo of a peer, chances are it is linked to revenge. I’ve seen it happen many times where a boy and girl are dating, and then they break up. During the period where they were dating, one of them sent a sexually revealing photo. After they break up, the picture gets sent around. The picture could end up being forwarded from person to person on a cell phone. A website could be created with the sexual photos. Once the web page is made, a link would be provided on Facebook to visit the site with the nude pictures. Due to the fact that students have seen your body, your reputation would be tarnished. People would taunt you because of the pictures. In 2008, an Ohio girl hanged herself because of the nude photos she had sent to her former boyfriend. The girl was teased so much that it became unbearable, and she committed suicide (Kiesbye). Sexting is not an act you want to be involved with.

If the revealing photo of you circulated from student to student, it would make it very awkward to attend school. As you walk down the hall, your peers would whisper about you. School would be embarrassing, long hours because most people received a picture of you in little or no clothes. Students would refer to you in provocative terms, and stare at you in rude ways. Being singled out because of sexting, you would feel vulnerable and worthless. Peers would continue to sit and talk badly about you because you are the new fad of the school. Due to the fact that you are getting made fun of, your education would be at stake. You would spend classes thinking about how life was before your entanglement with sexting. During class, you wouldn’t want to pay attention to your teacher because chances are, they know about your encounter with sexting. Instead of listening to your teacher, you would spend that class period dodging stares and glances from your classmates. Sexting impairs your reputation at school, sexting threatens your education, and sexting damages your future.
In most cases, sexting leads to unsatisfactory consequences. Colleges reject you because you are a registered sex offender for sending out child pornography. You will not get hired for jobs because of a stupid mistake you made as a teenager. Once the interviewer sees that you have a criminal record, you won’t be working for that company (Auburn). Your family is also affected by your choice to sext. Parents are labeled as disregarding and careless towards their children. Sexting has a negative impact on relationships. People would not want to have a friendship with you because you were responsible for sending out nude pictures. Previous friends before the nude picture got around wouldn’t want to have a friendship with a person labeled as the school broad. In an Orlando case, a teen boy wanted revenge on his ex-girlfriend after a break up. He ended up e-mailing the pictures to a good amount of people. The boy is now on the list of sex-offenders for sending out child pornography (Kiesbye). The consequences of sexting are cruel.
Although every single person in your high school is sexting, that does not mean you have to. You think you have control over who receives the seductive picture, but really, you do not. Once you press the “send” button, that picture could be sent to one person or one million people. Teenagers need to stop having the “it won’t happen to me” attitude because the outcomes of sexting could happen to anyone. Are you part of the forty-three percent who sext? You cannot take back your action once you have sent a sexual photo (Steinburg). Sexting ruins your reputation. Sexting affects your education in a negative way. Sexting leads to unimaginable consequences.