Teen Sex Texting: Dangerous or Not?

Text messaging has been a popular way of getting those quick notes and jokes from teen to teen for a few years now. Recently though, parents have been complaining about what those quick notes are for. Teens have a new way of having safe sex, but is sex texting really all that safe? Many parents say that teens sending sexy texts is not only flirty play, but that it is dangerous.

Just as when phone sex became a national talk show topic, people are asking "How could that work?" and "Is that real?" Text sex is almost the same as phone sex, except that the excitement is visual instead of vocal. Text sex is text messages of sexual acts and other sexual things along with nude or almost nude pictures. Anyone with an active text-capable cell phone, and especially video capable, can participate.

Many teens are happy to use text sex as a excitement builder to good old-fashioned physical sex, while others claim it is just a way to flirt and have fun. Some teens choose to have text sex instead of sexual intercourse because they simply aren't ready to go "all the way" with their mate.

Another point of view from teens is "it isn't hurting anyone so nobody should care."

Parents warn though that it isn't a safe choice despite some of their claims of safe sex. The bad thing about text messages or pictures is that anyone can see them. The phone can be shared and so can the messages and pictures. If that happens, reputations can be ruined and the teens can become publicly humiliated.

Another fear among parents is that text sex might encourage teens who aren't having sex to have sex, or entice teens to have sex with multiple partners. Of course, teens say that this just isn't the case and that the parents should have trust in their ability to make responsible choices.

Still, there is some parents that are worried that child predators and other undesirables might become a problem due to their teen's sex texting. While that avenue might seem a bit paranoid, it is plausable. With so many social applications like Facebook and MySpace where a phone number can be given to anyone claiming to be a friend, the chances of recieving predatorial text sex messages is considerable.

Parents can possibly prevent teen sex text. Some cell phone carriers offer text message blocking for no cost. This will block all text messages, leaving only calling available on the phone. While this is a wonderful block, it sometimes poses a hindrance to family communications. Another hindrance is since text packs are usually bought one thousand messages for ten dollars but minutes cost much more, the cell phone bill can be higher due to talking instead of texting. However, between the hindrances and the teen's loud protesting, text message block is not a desirable option.