Connectivity, accessible and mobile technology and a couple of key strokes by adolescents either for the sake of fun or peer pressure and poof, reality hits and hits hard; life changes in an instant for the worse and with little oppurtunity for recourse. They now have to share the same status as that of a pedophile or a rapist, all because of what is now called sexting.

Sexting is the act of sending sexually explicit messages or photos electronically, primarily between cell phones. A unique and a growing problem that needs attention from parents, kids and law makers alike.  

Whether parents are tech savvy or not they need to wake up and become aware of this. Schools and organizations working for the betterment of children need to address this and come up with educational programs and devise tools for both children and parents to better combat this. Policy makers and law makers need to recognize this as a separate problem rather than  put it under the umbrella of  child pornography. New laws need to happen to deal with this new and growing problem. 

Here are some questions raised by Mike Galanos, CNN.

The challenges our children face are so very different than what we faced growing up. There is so much of SH*T that can happen by the time one reaches the age of 18 or 20 yrs that our children’s futures could be taken away from them even before they begin.

Even with increased awareness and vigilance by parents, I wonder if its possible to keep up with technology and truly protect our children and our children’s future. Parents need help.

Since India lacks a Sex Offender Registry, and a proper National Identification System, I wonder how it is going to deal with problems of ’sexting‘.