I think one of the biggest causes of sexting is something brought up in class-- personal insecurities. If you aren't comfortable with your personality, or you haven't figured out who you are or who you want to be, you put your identity on your skin. You rely on your body for confidence and a self esteem booster. Also, a lot of insecure people really want to be popular and have people like them because they're not sure they like themselves. They need validation from others to confirm that they're beautiful or worthy or whatever it is they don't feel they are.
Also, I think cognitive dissonance and thinking only of the present plays a role. A teenager, while in the heat of the moment, is not likely to think about the consequences of their actions 10, 20 years down the road. They may know their actions are wrong, especially after the amount of time spent into convincing us that the internet is dangerous and our digital footprints are forever, but they still go through with sending the picture. This may be related to some form of rebellion, or just sending the picture is something they want to do-- for whatever reason, conscious or unconscious.
I agree with you, that some people are insecure and want support, and do not think about how sending such a photo will affect them in the long term. In my opinion, these people may be desperate to gain approval from those "above" them and will do anything to get it. Their sense of logic and how their present actions will affect the future is overshadowed by their whims to gain popularity. While cognitive dissonance is certainly present in their minds, it may be unconscious because he or she is too wrapped up in thinking about what they want.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that sexting might be caused by insecurities. However I also think that sexting has become a normal thing for teens to do. Many teens see so many others doing it that when asked to send a nude picture they don't think of it like something so random, since everyone is doing it.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with you that sexting can come from insecurities. I think that we can relate sexting to Kaila's anorexia in a way, since both are geared towards getting more attention. In high school, there are so many people who are insecure and will do anything to get attention. For this reason, people turn to eating disorders, drugs, or even sexting in order to get people to pay attention to them.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your point. Also, teenagers' brains are not fully developed so they aren't always able to make the most sound decisions. Maybe sending these pictures gives them certain "thrills" that their brains analyzed as positive, so they continue to do so?
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