New tech toys make it easy for teenagers to misbehave

It's happening more often. You're sitting in class chatting with some friends when a hysterical girl comes in crying.

Some guys laugh while the girls snub her or glare. Your phone vibrates in your pocket and, without thinking, you pull it out and see a familiar face.

All the laughter and looks start to make sense: The picture on your cell phone is the hysterical girl. She is smiling — and naked.

Sexting is just one of the many ways teens have found to get themselves into trouble. Aside from the sexting, there have been pictures of incidents of underage drinking being posted on MySpace, and pedophiles posing as teens in social sites.

According to The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, 22 percent of teen girls and 18 percent of teen males sent out nude or seminude pictures or videos of themselves. Little by little, the sexting trend is turning into a problem that's affecting teens everywhere, and teens are seeing their peers naked even when they don't want to.

"I opened my phone and I was like, ‘what the hell, there's a penis on my phone,'" said Lizette, a John Jay High School junior, who didn't want her full name used. She talked about how some male classmates sent her nude pictures in hopes that she would send some in return.

According to The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, 44 percent of teens sent provocative pictures because they received one first. Lizette, however, is not one of the 44 percent.

"Just because someone talks to me, it doesn't mean they can just go off trying to show me their piece," Lizette said.

However, not every girl has this same thought about sending sexual pictures. Recently at McCollum High School, there was an incident in which a teen girl, who is being kept anonymous for reasons of privacy, texted a picture that made it past one boy's phone.

Sergio Bargas, a senior at Harlandale High School, said, "I was glad she didn't take it bad … she didn't care because she wasn't ugly."

Bargas said no one saw the girl's situation in a negative light.

"Girls were like saying it was a cute pic, and guys were complimenting her," Bargas said.

Dr. Thomas E. Billimek, chair of the psychology department at San Antonio College, said the reason for her happiness might be the fact that the flattering compliments helped her with insecurity issues.

Although the situation might be embarrassingto most teen girls, Billimek said it has a lot to do with the age of the girl. "One possibility is that they are trying to establish their identities, and there's a lot of insecurity."

He said it "could be a way of trying to get recognition, approval perhaps." The compliments she received only fed her ego and may have temporarily relieved the insecurity.

The need for approval in the digital world also may lead to another pressing problem among teens.

Partying is a hobby that, at some point, can define the line of popularity. However, this hobby also can ruin job opportunities later in life. Companies now have a way to get a peek into their employees' and prospective employees' lives.

Facebook and MySpace have provided a possible window into teen's lives. A recent trend, popular among high school and college students, is posting pictures of themselves drinking even though they're underage. Billimek said this also could be a cry for attention.

"Every generation has its own way of saying, ‘Hey, here I am,'" Billimek said of teens taking risqué photographs.

In addition to underage drinking pictures, others have put themselves at risk based on the appearance of a default picture.

According to The Daily Telegraph (Australia), earlier this year, Paul Rajendran, 36, posed as a scout for the fashion label La Perla in Sydney, Australia. A woman saw that he was a modeling scout and sent him a friend request. He let her know that he was a looking for some new talent. They exchanged e-mails and met in person.

After a few spiked drinks, the night ended tragically for this woman as Rajendran lured her to his apartment and raped her. He is just one accused of using social networking to take advantage of others.

In 2009, 90,000 sex offenders were reported on MySpace.

Jesse Figueroa, a senior at Harlandale High School, considered what he would tell his sister when she starts using MySpace.

"I will tell her that not everyone is who they seem, and that there are sick people who will try to hurt them."