Tuesday, January 27, 2009

bullies versus terrorists.

Some numbers from a NY Times article on Digital Harassment:

[Three high school girls] had sent nude pictures of themselves by cellphone to their teenage boyfriends, who were charged with possessing child pornography.

The legal consequences in this case may have been unique, but the behavior is not. About 20 percent of teenagers have posted or sent nude cellphone pictures of themselves, according to the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, a nonprofit group.

Almost one in 10 high school students has been physically hurt on purpose by a boyfriend or girlfriend, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention research. And one-quarter of teenagers in relationships say they have been called names or harassed by their partner through cellphones and text messages, according to a study commissioned by the clothing company Liz Claiborne, which sponsors antiviolence programs.

About 39 percent of teenagers have sent sexual e-mail messages or instant messages, according to a 2008 study from the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy and CosmoGirl.com.
(From NY Times)

Teenagers are the scariest mofos on Earth.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

The day my youngest hit 20 (not that long ago--let's not make any rash assumptions about age here) was the happiest day of my life. Videogames and cell phones began to flourish just after we'd squeaked by the ages when they seem to do the most harm.
Here in Japan, a 14-year-old with a cell phone and a few dozen numbers has a license to kill...or put his/her parents in debt.(Why wait for college?)