Furthermore, more and more teens around the world are getting cell phones every day. There was an online study done by Amanda Lenhart where she talks about the subject of teens owning cell phones, “In Pew Internet's 2004 survey of teens, 18% of teens age 12 owned a cell phone. In 2009, 58% of 12-year-olds own a cell phone” (Lenhart 4). This is becoming a problem for these teens because it is allowing them to partake in sexting. Lounsbury describes in her article that sexting is described as when two individuals send revealing pictures back and forth (5). This type of sexual communication has become very common in our modern world. Lounsbury also explains there have been several studies done showing just how many teens have partaken in sexting. One study shows that 20% of girls and boys admitted to sending nude photos to someone else (9). This is a significant amount of teens. Lounsbury discusses the amount of boy sexters versus girl sexters: “Sext senders were more likely to be girls (65% vs. 35% boys) and older teens ages 16 to 18 (61% vs. 39% ages 13-15)” (9). Even though there are more girl-sexters than boys, it would not be right to be more harsh on girls. The problem of sexting only became an issue because of the increased amount of cell phones that there is today. Without having cell phones, it would decrease the amount of teens that partake in sexting.
On the other hand, there are those who believe that teens having cell phones are very beneficial. These people believe that teens having cell phones allow for the parents to have an easy way to contact their child. While this makes sense in some ways, most places that their child would be going to would have a phone readily available for people use in case of an emergency. Some also insist that it allows the teens to connect to their friends as well as family members. This may be a quicker way to do this, but it is not the only way. People have been able to contact others far away for a very long time. It only requires four materials: paper, pencil, envelope, and stamps. Letters are a very efficient way to contact one another when they live very far away. It is also possible to send other things such as gifts to one another, which would not be possible to do over a text message or phone call. All in all, people believe that phones are a necessity for parents to be able to contact their kids and for people to easily connect with their family and friends.
On the other hand, there are those who believe that teens having cell phones are very beneficial. These people believe that teens having cell phones allow for the parents to have an easy way to contact their child. While this makes sense in some ways, most places that their child would be going to would have a phone readily available for people use in case of an emergency. Some also insist that it allows the teens to connect to their friends as well as family members. This may be a quicker way to do this, but it is not the only way. People have been able to contact others far away for a very long time. It only requires four materials: paper, pencil, envelope, and stamps. Letters are a very efficient way to contact one another when they live very far away. It is also possible to send other things such as gifts to one another, which would not be possible to do over a text message or phone call. All in all, people believe that phones are a necessity for parents to be able to contact their kids and for people to easily connect with their family and friends.