GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC—Education Minister Priya Manickchand urged school children and other young people to refrain from sexting on Wednesday. Education officials say they have noticed an increase in reports of many teenagers sharing private photos of themselves on social media.
Sexting is a term used to describe the act of sending, receiving, or sharing sexual messages, photos, or videos using a phone, computer, or other digital device.
“When you are in safe spaces like your bedroom or your sitting room or your home, where you feel like you are private and you feel safe, and you feel as if you are anonymous, the sense of anonymity that the phone gives you, you can do things that you would ordinarily not do in public,” Manickchand said in a seven-minute broadcast on her Facebook page.
She said as schools host Christmas parties and other social events marking the end of the school term, too many young people are being hurt by the act of sexting.
“I have seen that happening a little too often, so I want you to think about this and consciously. I have seen persons taking pictures of their naked or semi-clothed bodies, either stills or videos and sending them to people that they think are friends or that they think would preserve your privacy. I have seen how those pictures or videos are used to hurt our young people, particularly our girls,” Manickchand said.
She said that by taking those nude and semi-nude photos and sending them to other persons, such a person is surrendering a whole lot of their power.
“The first thing you should do before you take those pictures or videos is to ask yourself how you would feel if this was on a billboard that you had to pass and see, or how you would feel if it is exposed on the internet,” said Manickchand, who is also an attorney.
She told the young people these were relevant questions because that is precisely what could happen and what has happened to many young people across the world who felt safe when they were taking those pictures and who felt confident that the people they were sending them to would never hurt them, but they did.
“So if you are ever tempted to take pictures or videos of your body, I ask you to think again about that because it can cause you a lot of hurt,” Manickchand warned.
“If you have ever done that and someone is blackmailing you or threatening you about using those pictures, just let us know, and we will make sure that they don’t have that power over you. If it has been done already, and it’s done, then don’t let that define you.
“But for those of you who have never done that and may not have even thought about it, I want to actively think about how you would feel if those pictures and videos became public. And I want you to know, if you send it to someone or many someones, even if you love or trust that person at that moment, you give up the power to determine whether or not it be published, and that’s not right”, she said.
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