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Text Messaging

Donna Rodriguez

 
            Beep! U r a joke lol
            Beep! Ur a loser
            Beep! YBS [You’ll be sorry]
            Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!
            The snowball effect can be triggered by one message which could destroy someone’s life.
            A simple text message can cause problems that won’t get better or be forgotten as time passes.  
            Recently, the LA Times wrote an article about a Pierce College student, Mike Yepremyan, who sent his girlfriend an inappropriate message about her friend which led to his death.
            The message read “every time u hang out with that bitch u guys get hookah,” according to the LA Times.
            Obviously, this message was intended for his girlfriend’s eyes only but his girlfriend’s friend [probably by accident] saw it.
            It’s easy to get caught up in a text conversation with friends but once the sent button is pressed there is no way of stopping that message from being seen by the wrong people.
            It only takes one press of a button to send a message that will go from phone to phone.
            One person could send it to another, that person could then send it to the next creating a chain containing that regretful message or image, so there is no way of deleting it from existence.
            Most likely people don’t intend for their messages to get to the point where they can get into trouble but sometimes they do.
            When awful text messaging does get too far it could end in suicide, fights and sometimes jail.
            According to CNN, a girl who moved from Ireland to Massachusetts, Phoebe Prince, hung herself in her home after getting months worth of threatening text messages.
            Prince was bullied up to the point where she felt ending her life would be best. Bullying happens everywhere and there is no telling how those who are being bullied would take it. They could snap in a way that would be a danger to themselves or others.
            Its not only name calling through via text message that could hurt someone but sexting could harm the reputation of someone who believed they send a naked image to a trustworthy partner.
            Since sexting came into the mix teens have been targeted. Teens have not only gotten into trouble in school or with their parents but have also gotten arrested for sexting.
            Four percent of teens from the ages of 12 to 17 say that they have sent nude images of themselves through via text message and 15 percent of teens from of the same age group say they have received nude pictures, according to Pew Internet and American Life Project.
            “A Texas eighth-grader spent the night in a juvenile detention center after his football coach found a nude picture on his cell phone that a fellow student sent him,” said CBS News.
            CBS News also said that teenage girls in Pennsylvania sent nude images of themselves and were charged with child pornography.
            Teens might not understand the kind of damage that could be done by sending a nude message to their boyfriend or girlfriend. They don’t seem to get that a naked picture could come back and haunt them.
            Now adults might not get into trouble from sending a naked picture because they are over the legal age. The only problem is that they need to be careful to whom they are sending the image to. If sent to the wrong person it could do a lot of damage to someone’s reputation.
            Not only can images be sent to other phones but it can also be filed.
            If it was sent to phones in a work place then it would be difficult to work with people who have seen that naked picture. If you are interested in dating someone they might think different of you if they happen to see that image.
            Everyone should be careful in what they write whether it is a message sent out of anger or sexting.  
            Think before sending a message that could get you into trouble, ruin a friendship or destroy someone’s life.
            Think about the person that will be receiving that message, is it someone who will get hurt or cause more trouble?
            Re-read the message before it’s sent, if that message seems like it could get you or another party into trouble then don’t it would probably be a good idea to not send it.  

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