On Monday, I post a bunch of links I think people will find interesting. On Friday, I do a short bit of commentary on one of the highest clicked links that I posted.
The link for today’s discussion regarding sexting can be found here:
nytimes.com/2011/03/27/us/27sexting.html?_r=1
A few highlights as I think about this phenomenon:
They’re young. Wow are they young. Eighth grade? Think about when you were in 8th grade. Think about what this new technology has made possible for young people who are prone to making mistakes. Imagine being an eighth grade student knowing that private parts of your body were sent around to hundreds of other young people in the community where you attended school. Wow that is young.
They’re seeking attention. Apparently sending an image of your naked body is a way to get attention. In the case of this article, it got a lot of negative attention. But if you don’t work much with young people, or even if you do, would you please let this serve as a reminder of what they will often do to get attention? And read the stats – this does not seem to be an isolated incident.
What one mistake can do. Many of us have paid the consequence for bad decisions. Those consequences are often limited. Sometimes, they’re not. Something like this really illustrates the need to encourage good decision making among young people. Could an article like this stop someone from making the same mistake?
In sum, I feel terrible for students who pay like this for one bad decision. For years and years in youth ministry, I stressed the importance of finding your identity in Jesus Christ (with mixed results). The more Christ and the pursuit of His ways with His people become front and center in a young person’s life, the less likely a young person was to do something stupid like this to seek attention.
Adults – what will you do for attention? Are you satisfied in Jesus (or your marriage or your work or whatever state God has you in) enough that you wouldn’t need to do something like this to gain attention from someone else?
Be challenged everyone, and have a great Friday.