A new American study looking at MySpace profiles of 500 18-year-olds from the United States revealed that 54% openly talk about sex, violence and substance abuse on the social networking site. The study went on to say that those who displayed such behaviour were more likely to be the subject of bullying or unwanted invitations for sex and called for parents to get more involved in the online lives of their children ‘“ even so far as to knowing their passwords.
It really comes as no surprise that American teenagers are acting like this, as it appears that only in the virtual realms are they fully allowed to express themselves on taboo subjects without immediate repercussions.
You could even go so far as to say that this behaviour is inevitably due to America being generally suppressive of the more risqué aspects of teenage culture.
Despite being allowed to drive, get married and fight in a war at the relatively young age of 16, sex education (if you can even call it that) is still the teaching of abstinence (‘If you have sex, you will get pregnant die.’) and the legal drinking age remains set at 21.
However, is this action causing more harm than good? With the study mentioning that those displaying such risky behaviour are openly advertising themselves to sexual predators or internet bullying, it seems the over-protection of American teenagers is having a negative effect. If teenagers were allowed to freely discuss subjects such as sex in real life, then they would no longer feel the need to share their views and experiences with all 140 million users of MySpace.
America shows no sign of stopping the cycle though with the recent story of teen ’sexting’ (sending semi naked pictures of yourself to others) leading to teenagers as young as 13 being prosecuted on child pornography charges. Realising the potential risk, some teens have started to disguise themselves in pictures, only taking shots of body parts and being careful not to include faces.
But American authorities have taken a dim view by seeking to prosecute adolescents involved in ’sexting.’ Although it’s agreed that the taking and sending of naked pictures is inadvisable, the actual charging of those involved is just another example of America’s overzealous methods to keep teenagers sheltered.
America’s idea that all teenagers should be a toned-down version of the Jonas Brother’s and their outrage that Hannah Montana has breasts has forced their teens to crave a sordid underground culture. Unfortunately for them the best they could come up with is a homogenised public display of their sluttiness and naivety. Lol.
