Sexting

“Are you sure,” She said for what seemed like the tenth time. “That you will cover ‘sexting.’” I start again to go into my explanation that I would talk about children interacting online. My presentation, I have already told her, explores both risks and benefits of new technologies. I wanted to tell her that ‘sexting’ is a media-term that teenagers would never use among themselves. I wanted to tell her that flirting between teenagers even in sexually explicit ways has always been happening from time immemorial. Cell phones that can send words and pictures winging through space are the new trend, not adolescent behavior.

I take a breath and stop myself. She and the parents she wants me to speak to are scared. They’ve seen the pictures of a lovely, young woman who took her own life, and they are thinking of their own loved ones. They see a technology that they will always be hopelessly behind at utilizing. Most of what they’ve heard has fanned the flames of that fear. I can hear it echoing in this woman’s tone and her choice of language. And, I’m glad she called.

I have a chance to replace the sound bytes and blurry images with facts and research. I will make a case to parents to get to know their kids better and not have knee-jerk reaction that lead to conflict. I have the chance to talk about teenagers and sexual behavior as natural and not essentially destructive. I have the opportunity to help parents empathize with their children and use this as an opportunity to start a conversation, not a lecture.

“Yes,” I said. “I will make sure to cover ‘sexting.’”