Child porn also drifts into the gray areas once again with “sexting”. “Sexting”, which is the act of sending sexually explicit messages or images, through some electronic means, and is most often found on cell phones. The act itself has become something of a phenomenon among teens across the globe. While sexual innuendos and games are far from new among teenagers, there have been sexually orientated games such as “spin the bottle” and “seven minutes in heaven”, they have begun to take on a much more explicit approach in recent years, such as with the game “snap”. The once innocent jelly bracelets of the 1980’s have turned into sex bracelets, now each color of which stands for a different sex act, then whatever colors one wears is a symbol of what they would be willing to do with a partner. In the game “snap”, one goes to an intended or desired partner and literally snaps, or breaks, a bracelet off the wearers wrist and then they are required to do the act noted by the bracelets color.
Teenagers have always had a sexual curiosity and promiscuous behaviors are not new to any generation, however the age at which this begins appears to be younger and younger. And as mentioned the explicit nature has dramatically increased, no longer are these games able to be seen as innocent curiosity. Of course general outrage has been made against such games, and while banning and deterring the wearing of bracelets are inherently simpler, the issue is more complex when technology becomes involved.
Regardless of nature of the images sent while “sexting”, or their intention, once sent the images are unable to be returned. And in this virtual world images of any nature spread like wildfire. Thus an lapse of judgment can quickly turn into a case of child pornography, and sexual exploitation, which can never be erased. Once the door to child sexual explotation is open, it can never be closed, as the images remain circulating and the victiminzation never ends.