You could call us the Internet generation. Between Facebook, YouTube, Google, and the multitude of blogging sites, photo-sharing sites, and media sites, teenagers depend on the Internet more than any other generation. Every part of our lives is recorded somewhere in cyberspace: there are the photos from a trip on Flickr, video of a favorite song on YouTube, gossip on Facebook. We're right at home on the Internet. But the recent incident where photos of high school water polo players were posted on pornographic sites brings up the question of Internet safety and privacy. After all, despite teenagers' comfort with the Internet, it is still a technological Wild West filled with predators, and we need protection from them.
It is terrifying to think that with a few snaps of a camera shutter and a few clicks of a mouse, predators can exploit high school athletes on the Internet. The athletes were probably focused on their game, without any idea of what was going on in the stands. Sure, they may have expected photos of themselves to be posted to athletic sites, but never would they expect their images to turn up on a gay pornography site.
These athletes might never be able to fully eradicate their images from the Internet. Once on the Internet, content spreads like wildfire, racing from page to page until it is almost impossible to delete. It just hangs around, lurking in the archives of Web sites until one unlucky Google search brings it popping back to the top of the results page. People should be able to control information about themselves on the Internet. We all have a right to privacy that the photographers ignored.
As high school students, we have a lot to deal with already. Homework, standardized tests, extracurricular activities, community service, and athletics all compete for our time. The last thing we need to worry about is whether our image will be used without our permission on pornography sites. The actions taken by the photographers were inappropriate and damaging to high school athletes. They need to face legal consequences.
Connor Carreras is a student at Corona del Mar High School.
