Many young people think sexting is acceptable because they are surrounded by pornography every day, says the Australian Christian Lobby.
The Victorian director of the ACL, Daniel Flynn, told Crikey: “Young people are in an environment where they are bombarded with pornography on television, outdoor advertising and in movies. So the sending of a sexualised image doesn’t seem like an inappropriate thing to do. What makes a difference now, is that these images can be circulated at the speed of light, and the breadth of distribution is what makes them most damaging.”
Crikey and journalism students from Swinburne University have teamed up to look through the 60 submissions to the Victorian Law Reform Committee’s current inquiry into sexting (the practice of taking explicit images and sending them electronically, with or without consent).
In its submission to the inquiry, the ACL said increasing sexualisation occurred despite clear guidelines for television, film, radio and print content.
“Even our music clips are very pornographic. Apathy is also a factor. Things that we would certainly consider as pornography are in sight when young kids are lining up to get a slurpee at 7-Eleven. Our own apathy, is that we are doing nothing about it. We need to send a message to our young people that they don’t have to be sexualised to be accepted, to be liked or approved in their peer group,” Flynn said.
One young woman, Grace Condidorio, 18,of Cobram in northern Victoria, agrees. She told Crikey she had witnessed a few of her friends being embarrassed by private messages having been released on Facebook. “Everyone wants to be like what they see on TV,” Condidorio said. “Sexting makes kids feel like they are sexy and in control just like people they see in movies.”
The ACL submission refers to an incident in Cincinnati, Ohio, where a young girl, Jessica Logan, committed suicide after a naked photo of her was circulated at her high school. “It’s a tragic case,” Flynn said. “There was a lot of bullying associated with that, a lot of name calling … she used to hide in the toilets.”
He said a similar case had happened in South Australia. “There was a boy who wanted to have a sexual relationship with a girl when she wanted to break up. He used an image of her, as manipulation to achieve his end.”
Flynn said an internet filter would be a step in the right direction, due to the increasing availability of pornography. “The ACL has repeatedly requested the federal government to put a mandatory internet filter on to block refused classification material. It was a promise going into this last election but that promise hasn’t been implemented.”
The lobby group also recommended that schools implement a code of conduct to educate young people on the dangers of sexting.
“There should be surveillance of phones at school to the extent that they’re brought to the attention of the school authorities and enforcement in schools leading to reporting to the police as appropriate. Headmasters have to be involved, there should be a lot of education, we should be engaging the kids in classrooms. There have not been a lot of cases but I’m sure the community wants to protect children,” Mr Flynn said.
“Christians” want to protect children?
Have not been very good at it so far; have they read their Saviour’s instructions on the use of millstones?
Did anyone ask them how an internet filter would stop people sending pictures via mobile phones or Facebbok? Or how an internet filter would clean up 7-11 stores or music videos?
The increasing sexualisation of society, and children in particular, is deplorable but I pretty sure that censoring the internet is not a solution.
Over exposure of sexual material everywhere you turn, means there has to be an acceptance of it? People are of greater value than that and we shouldn’t be afraid to say so, or act to eradicate it. A very good article and the more that support it, the better for society.
@ Dorothy Long
[Over exposure of sexual material everywhere you turn, means there has to be an acceptance of it?]
Who said that? I doubt that you would find many people agreeing with that statement.
[People are of greater value than that and we shouldn’t be afraid to say so, or act to eradicate it.]
True but could you tell me how censoring the internet will stop people sending pictures via mobile phones or Facebbok or clean up 7-11 stores or music videos?
I think that Mr Flynn is right on target about the extremely high volume of sexualised imagery that young people are exposed to on a daily basis. This article barely touches the surface. Consider not only music videos and advertising, but also comic books, anime, and video games that present hypersexualised images of women to boys and young men; celebrity sex videos seen as a way to fame and wealth, streetwear featuring porn images of women, the manner in which ‘sports entertainment’ presents women, sex stores and brothels publicly advertising their goods and services. And this is not even to mention internet pornography. The tragic examples of the effects of sexting that Mr Flynn mentions are very sad. I’m not sure that internet censorship would be effective in reducing the amount of sexual imagery young people are exposed to in the Digital Age, but I think that it is an option that should certainly be explored by the Victorian Law Reform Committee’s inquiry. Mr Flynn obviously cares about the issue of the highly sexualised nature of Digital Age culture and its sad effects on people – especially young people. I wish that more people cared about this issue and were willing to do something about it, instead of just making negative comments online. I applaud Crikey and the authors of this article for seriously looking at this issue.