Lecture # 9 (Part1) - Sexting Now Almost Commonplace

Question 1

Adult sexting is perfectly legal, as it is the sharing of sexually explicit content between two consenting adult. But what about teen sexting – should that be legal? If a 16-year-old boy sends a sext to his 16-year-old partner, should that be considered child pornography? Why or why not?

Teen sexting is a highly controversial topic. Although many teens are sexually active, teen sexting should be illegal. Sexting is currently illegal under federal law. It falls under the creation, distribution, and possession of child porn and is a felony offense. This is because   teenagers do not have the emotional maturity to sext appropriately. Moreover, taking, possessing, and posting sexually explicit photographs of teenagers under the age of 18 is a form of pornograph.

 

Question 2

If you refer back to Figure 8.1 on page 228, where would you place adult sexting – a minor ethical violation, a serious ethical violation, or a very serious ethical violation? What circumstances – consequences, society’s opinion, likelihood of effect, time to consequences, relatedness, and reach of result – might move adult sexting from a minor ethical violation to a serious ethical violation and then finally on to a very serious ethical violation?

 

Adult sexting ethics are situational and subjective. Adult sexting between unmarried lovers is a serious ethical violation from a Christian standpoint. Conservative people may believe unmarried couples should abstain from sexual activities until after marriage. Some liberal people would likely view premarital sexting activity as only a minor ethical violation. People who are open minded, however, would not view sexting between unmarried lovers as a serious ethical violation.

Married couples can ethically engage in sexting activities. However, some conservative people might think the explicit language commonly used in sexts is a minor ethical violation.

 

 Typically, the ethical implications of sexting decrease when the circumstances shift from premarital sexting to marital sexting. The exception to this statement is when married couples use sexting to engage in extramarital affairs. Although some adults maintain open marriages, most people agree extramarital sexting is a very serious ethical violation. The severity of this violation increases when one spouse engages in explicit extramarital sexting without the husband or wife’s consent. The severity of the ethical violation would peak at a married adult engaging in explicit extramarital sexting with a minor. When a minor becomes involved in adult sexting activities, both ethical issues and legal issues arise

Question 3

Consider the whole notion of power being tied to sexting, flirting, and cheating. From a psychological point of view why might this be true? Do some research into Tiger Woods's troubles with extra-marital affairs. Could his cheating be tied to his position of power? Is “power” and the temptations that go with it an excuse for such behaviour?

Certainly, one’s position of or craving for power is related to one’s willingness to engage in sexting activities. People in positions of power feel they are above the law. Powerful people, such as athletes, celebrities, and politicians, often think they can engage in scandalous activities without getting caught or punished. For this same reason, many powerful people engage in extramarital affairs. These cheaters believe they are not or should not be bound to the traditional rules of marriage. Tiger Woods is a perfect example of this fact. Woods has proclaimed adamantly his love for his ex-wife. Nevertheless, Woods has used his celebrity status and power to engage women in sexually explicit behaviors and extramarital affairs. According to an article, Woods reportedly confessed to sleeping with 120 women. 

Wood’s cheating is tied directly to his position of power. First, many of Woods’ mistresses would not have engaged in sexual activities with Woods had he not been a powerful, wealthy celebrity. Second, Woods would not have had the means to woo so many mistresses had he not been a wealthy, powerful person. Woods has admitted to flying women on private jets to meet him in private hotels and resorts. Finally, although Woods clearly has sexual issues, he likely felt entitled to his affairs due to his power and status. In fact, Woods believed he could resolve the cheating issue with his wife by flaunting his wealth and power. Following the scandal, Woods reportedly told a friend, “I need to run to Zales and get a Kobe special—a house on a finger”. Woods’ quote references NBA superstar Kobe Bryant’s extravagant gift to his estranged wife following his cheating scandal

Another provocative aspect of the power-cheating connection is the wife’s response to the scandal. Interestingly, after receiving her expensive gift, Bryant’s wife chose to stay married to Bryant. Woods was not so lucky. However, even in light of the gross cheating allegations, Woods’ wife, Elin Nordegren, was hesitant to leave her husband.

Seemingly, even the wives of powerful men are willing to bend the marital rules for philandering husbands in order to continue living luxurious lives. Many wives chose to ignore the signs of affairs and to live in blissful ignorance. Unfortunately, this well-known mindset further enables powerful men to engage in unethical behaviors.

Power is never an appropriate justification for corrupt actions. Using power to solicit women or to engage in extramarital affairs is abuse of power. Even though conducting extramarital affairs and communicating with paramours through electronic affairs are not illegal activities, these activities are highly unethical. Thus, people engaging in such behaviors should be removed from their positions of power.

Question 4

What role can and should employers play in limiting (perhaps eliminating) sexting in the workplace? What about employee-to-employee sexting? What about employee-to-customer sexting? Regarding the latter, what sort of legal liability does an organization have if an employee sends an unwanted and unwelcome sext to another employee or to a customer?

If a company’s employer does issue phones and tablets to your employees there are some steps you can take to help prevent sexting and other unwanted behavior. First, you can notify your employees that anything they send over employer-issued devices will be made available to you. You should eliminate any expectation of privacy that your employees have over the device. You may also want to install a security application in the device that records keystrokes and data uploads and notify your workers that you installed the application. Company phones are your property and you have the right to take these steps so long as you let your employees know about your monitoring and eliminate their expectations of privacy.
If recording your employee's keystrokes seem too harsh or invasive, you can take a different approach by simply educating your employees about the dangers of texting including the legal troubles they can get into. It can help to include examples in your presentation of seemingly smart workers who got into trouble after sexting.

Employee-to-customer sexting can destroy the business relationship between both parties. There is no legal liability for the company, but it will have business or financial liability. This is because the liability of sexting should fall under individual liability. However, sexting will definitely jeopardize the business partnership.