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December 20, 2011
Amanda Kovac, Photo Editor
Imagine a Saturday evening at home. The guy or girl you’ve been crushing on the whole year sends you a picture of himself with his shoe off. The text reads “Return the favor(; Take it off.” What would you do? All over the news there have been reports of a new, dangerous, game at Liberty Junior High and other Liberty schools. This game is called Rounds. ‘Rounds’ is a game where one person takes a picture of themselves with an item of clothing off, starting with a shoe or something small and meaningless. The game continues from there until one of the participants chickens out. Many times they don’t, leaving themselves nude for the other person to see.
What these kids don’t realize is that by sending and receiving these pictures they are distributing and possessing child pornography. This can put them on the registered sex offender list for life. Being put down as a registered sex offender could eliminate college, job, and service opportunities, limiting the opportunities of these students.
Sexting has been around for almost as long as picture messaging has. It’s only become a growing problem as younger kids get phones and the cyber world grows. I didn’t write this article for just my grade. Officer Massey shared “I think education is the key to prevent future cases. I think kids need to understand they can change their future by making a mistake as a kid.” I fully agree with what she has said. By educating yourself on the consequences, and also on how to make smart decisions, which is a skill learned through school education, you can prevent yourself from winding up in a rut.
This particular game consists of two players, two cell phones with cameras, and a whole lot of peer pressure. I asked Sierra Moore how much peer pressure she thought was involved in the game, and she had a different opinion. Sierra replied “I think there’s peer pressure, but I think it is really the person’s choice to play the game. Yes people will try to pressure you to do something, but if it is on a phone it is easier, I think, to say no.”
Eric Morales, a freshman, shares, “I think it’s just their hormones, and they want to see who is cooler by showing the other person their body parts… or they’re just really stupid,” when asked his thoughts on why teens play Rounds, even with the knowledge that they could get in big trouble. It’s a bit worrisome the number of sexting cases there are each year, but hopefully with improving education we will be able to counteract that.
Practice safe text and don’t sext. 15% of cell owning teens say they have received suggestive or nude pictures, let’s please not let that percent go up again.
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