If you ask me: Be cautious with your characters

Have you ever reached for a friend's phone and they flip out: "Hey put that down! What are you doing? No.

Seriously, give it here!"? That person is probably sexting. Or at least they have been and have yet to delete the evidence.

Sexting is text messaging just dirtier. It's the Adult Swim to the Cartoon Network. I personally think it's just one more way that our generation has gotten lazier; we can no longer be bother to actually make a phone call.

I am not here to argue that sexting is wrong. Unless you are underage and saying things that you shouldn't even know about, otherwise it's fine. But you should be smart about it. There is no need to go overboard. Since I am a big fan of rules, let me lay out my rules on this subject.

Number one: Never type or send anything that you would be terribly upset by someone else seeing. I understand being shy but if you couldn't push yourself to say it out loud or find it in you to hear in a crowd then: DON'T SEND IT.

By the same token if you wouldn't actually do it then don't say it. You're just writing a check you can't cash. That's trouble waiting to happen.

Number two: Do not send (naked) pictures. Personally I would say don't send anything where you're wearing less clothing than you would be caught in during a normal day. Pictures are supposed to be enticing not like "Hey!

Here I am!". They're meant to say "Hey come and see the rest."

I don't want to open my phone and see your…naughty bits. Just all blatant and uninvited. What makes you think that's a good idea? It isn't. I think a nicely worded text as an invitation to come over and see what I want to see on my own time IF I so desire. Don't assault me with something that you've decided is impressive. I may not agree.

Number three: Keep any and all identifying factors out of the situation! Just in case you need to deny it ever happened. I don't know maybe your parents find something or it somehow gets out…you don't need a picture of your grandma in the background and definitely not your face.

Number four: The most important rule: If someone is so kind as to send you a nice steamy sext or a hot picture to raise your spirits, have the common decency to keep it to yourself OR delete it immediately. Why do you want to show it to your friends? Why do you have the kind of pervy friends that want to see?

Don't you know that you can go to jail for that these days? They'll get you for distributing pornography or something.

Especially if you or the person in the picture is underage. Do you want to be a registered sex offender all because you decided to show your buddies pics of your 17 year old girlfriend? No?! Well…good.

The point is this: sexting can be fun if and when done correctly. It shouldn't be that serious. No one needs some weird fantasy play by play sent to them while they're in math class. Just remember that nothing that you do is private any more. Its all digital and there are computers involved…you kids these days have too much going on not to be careful.

I think it might be nice to look back at a picture of my young awesome body when I'm fifty. But I'd like to be the only one looking. I'd rather not be someone's MySpace background (I have a theory that MySpace will get cool again).

So if you're going to sext be smart, be courteous, and stop yelling at your friends. It's not their fault that you're nasty.