Sexting Tragedy Family wants tougher laws
Committed Suicide
As the mother of a daughter I’ve been captivated by the story of how this young girl came to kill herself. She made a mistake. She sent a nude picture of herself to her boyfriend and the picture was then sent to hundreds of other students. The taunting made her life became a hell too hard to live.
Now, her parents have launched a national campaign seeking laws to address “sexting” – the practice of forwarding and posting sexually explicit cell-phone photos online. The Logans also want to warn teens of the harassment, humiliation and bullying that can occur when that photo gets forwarded.
Jessica Logan’s nude cell-phone photo – meant for her boyfriend’s eyes only – was sent to hundreds of teenagers last year in at least seven Greater Cincinnati high schools.
The 18-year-old Sycamore High School senior was then bombarded with taunts: slut, porn queen, whore.
On July 3, Jessie hanged herself in her bedroom. She was Albert and Cynthia Logan’s only child. “My only baby that I will never be able to touch again,” Cynthia Logan said through tears. “I will never have grandchildren. I will never be able to hand down my heirlooms. I’m just devastated by these parents that allow their children to do and say anything they want.” via Family wants tougher laws | Cincinnati Enquirer | Cincinnati.Com.
The family should be applauded for trying to turn their tragedy into a national teaching moment for young people everywhere. But will those young people get the message? And, shouldn’t PARENTS be educated too – to the dangers of giving their children, as young as elementary school, cell phones and unlimited texting plans?
Maybe schools should ban cell phones. That would solve a lot of problems, wouldn’t it?
Wants New Laws
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I don’t understand how the photo was forwarded to the entire county. Did the boyfriend send it out and then it was forwarded around around like a virus?
It seems like next generation is realizing how easily things go wrong on email and mobile communications. This is a (sadly fatal) high school equivalent of accidentally sending a company-wide note complaining about the boss — or an email saying that it’s time to sell off the ImClone stocks today because a major announcement is going to happen next Tuesday. Both are career ending, though not necessarily life ending.
Pia ~ While they courted she decided to send him a “gift” of some nudie photos. After they broke up he became a jerk and e-mailed them around to many people at their school. THOSE people then passed the photos on … and on and on…..
In response to another comment. See in context »Even though the young woman changed schools her reputation proceeded her and the taunts continued. But as Laura-Collins-Hughes writes above this kind of embarrassment happens to lots of young people and they don’t kill themselves. We need to get a better grasp on who is at real risk.
Sexting didn’t cause this suicide, and neither did taunting. I’m not endorsing either, and of course this young woman’s death is horribly sad. But the causes of suicide are far more complex than news coverage of self-inflicted deaths tends to be. Other teenagers are embarrassed when nude photos they’ve sent to one person are forwarded, other teenagers are cruelly taunted, and the vast majority of them don’t kill themselves. It would be a good thing for our culture if we tried to understand suicide’s real risk factors and warning signs. We also need to tell adolescents — who tend not to realize that these storms will pass — that help is available if suicide starts to look like a solution to them.
I disagree. Sexting was a huge factor in this terrible suicide.
I, like many teens, had dark thoughts at point or another in my high school years. It was difficult enough to deal with ex-boyfriends when they would saunter around school revealing our “love life.” Boys are trying to prove their manhood, and exaggerating or even outright lies about the sex in order to impress their friends was common. It was a virtual hell to walk down the hallways and know that a boy had told his friends (who in turn told their friends who in turn told their friends… and so on) of real or imagined “sexploits” and that everyone (or at least that is what the teen mind believes) is looking at you and wondering if it is true.
This poor girl sent the pictures to her boyfriend with the belief that he would be a gentleman and not pass them around. The already treacherous gauntlet of teenagedom was made unbearable when something so personal was spread throughout teen social networks. In her mind, there was no escape from the torment. In real life, there was no escape from her torment.
I have two teens and one who is not far behind. I have noticed a difference in teen behavior than that of my youth. Things we would never dream of doing 20 years ago are now common place. I have also noticed a decrease in respect towards social mores and societal values. There is a general lack of respect towards all authority and morals. I am in a constant battle with the teen culture of today.
I have not seen the taunts that this girl received, but if the casual conversations I have overheard at ballgames, school concerts, and other gatherings teenagers today are any indication, she was literally abused over and over again. Those that would have stepped forward to protect her were intimidated and did not want to go through the same torment.
It is a sad day in our society when our teenagers can be so cruel.
(On a personal note, my oldest (a girl) knows that I will not tolerate such behavior. The one time that she made a cruel comment, I did not hesitate to punish her. I was not cruel by any definition, but a month without any contact with her peer group including no phone or cellphone use, no television, extra chores, me going to office at school with her in tow and telling the principal and guidance counselor what going on, was enough for her to know that I was not going to allow such behavior. Too many parents either laugh such behavior off as kids being kids or believe that it is not harmful. We are raising a generation of individuals who have no respect for human life.)
In response to another comment. See in context »Sexting didn’t cause this suicide and people need to stop trying to replace parenting with legislation.