(May 9, 2009) — Unless you’ve been maintaining an Amish existence for the last few months, you’re more than aware of the many jaw-dropping photographs that have been turning up on iPods, cell phones, and the Internet by the dozens. This disturbing new trend, “sexting” (yes, it has a name) has been gaining popularity quickly over the years, as more and more girls strip down and send out their little nudey bombs to some lucky guy’s inbox. These pictures, of course, often make their way from one phone to another and can eventually end up on the Internet, where saving these pictures on a computer is as easy as three clicks. There is no doubt that sexting has been around as long as multimedia messaging has been; its popularity has been growing as quickly as the technology’s been improving. It only takes a few pushes of some buttons to take, attach and send these sexually explicit pictures off to the patient receiver. Within a month or so, these pictures usually end up on many more phones than intended, or even strewn all over the Internet, accessible to anyone who has an Internet connection or a way to find them. “Stuff like that spreads so fast,” said junior Moses Ter-Oganesyan. “Currently, this ‘event’ with all its content was even sent to people out of state.” Armenian sexters frequently end up in a thread on the notorious ArmenianPlanet, where Armenians from all over the country gather to discuss hundreds of topics and anonymously express their views about nearly everything . This site plays host to various topics of discussion and an incredibly large collection of nude photographs posted around every corner. With these posts come a large number of comments, views and a chain of gossip to alert everyone about them. Most of the users find no reason to hold back or remain tactful, so they mercilessly spew whatever comes to mind first upon seeing these pictures, often tearing down the subject of the photograph using as many rude words as possible. “That website is trash. All they do there is talk trash about people. It should seriously just disappear,” said junior Liana Rostamian. While ArmenianPlanet remains mostly undetected by the public radar, its existence is usually spread by word of mouth and its reputation is well known. Anyone who knows about ArmenianPlanet knows how degrading it would be to have his or her name, or worse, their picture, posted there. It’s a guaranteed way of losing the respect of peers and being exposed to a much larger audience than intended. It is far too easy to come across and obtain pictures that have been posted online. Aside from the local kids who have heard of the pictures and rush to spread them around, the older, and far more frightening crowd, can get a hold of them just as easily. Aside from the reputational damage, a gutsy act like this comes along with legal issues as well. According to CBS News, sexting is a serious felony that over 20% of teens have participated in. “Anything like that is obviously wrong,” said P.E. teacher Randy Tiffany. “It’s pornography and pornography is illegal. Sending pornography through a phone is illegal.” CBS news also cites that if someone is caught with having possession of or distributing nude or partially nude images of a minor, they will be charged with child pornography. Those who are underage will have to serve time in a juvenile detention center. Of course, there is no way to control what someone will do in his or her spare time when armed with a camera phone. It is important, however, to think carefully about the risks of such activities as sexting. According to Tiffany, no information sent over a phone or the Internet is safe. Even parents and employees of a wireless network have easy access to anything sent from one phone to another. “You should still do it if you want to have fun, but don’t send it,” Ter-Oganesyan said.