The situation: Your 14-year-old daughter is just like many teens and spends a lot of time texting. She texts her "girl" friends, her "guy" friends, and her "boyfriend". Your daughter is a "good girl". She gets good grades, she is very well rounded, you have an open relationship with her, and you feel you can trust her. Your daughter is at a birthday party one night (all girls). You know and like all of her friends. They are a bunch of girls that have been friends since kindergarten. They are all having a great time watching movies, dancing, talking, texting (all the normal fun girly sleepover stuff). A lot of pictures of their fun times were taken on the girl's cell phones. What's wrong with that, right? Well, one of the girls (thinking she was funny) took a picture of your daughter while she was getting dressed. In the excitement of the "party moment" without thinking your daughter asks her friend to text this picture to her boyfriend. In a matter of minutes your daughter's half-naked body is all over the school and your daughter is devastated. Should your daughter's friend be prosecuted? Should she be listed as a sex offender? Should she be in the same category as molesters and rapists?
The situation: Your 14-year-old son is the boyfriend of the girl above. He is also a very well-rounded good kid. You have a good relationship and talk openly about being a teen. The one thing that you didn't talk about was sexting. He received this text message with the picture and being a hormonally-crazed 14-year-old thought, "wow, I have to show this to my friends". He sends it on to his best buddies. Should your son be prosecuted? Should he be listed as a sex offender? Should he be put in the same category as molesters and rapists?
These are just two of the many situations that can happen with teens and sexting today. Is the current law that charges teens with distributing child pornography too harsh? These kids do need to learn how serious this is but...is this the right way to do that?
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9 opinions:
I think this is a good example of technology and its widespread use getting ahead of logical appropriate laws. However, at the same time child pornography is a horrible and very widespread activity that the law and its enforcers merely touch the surface of.
So I think the laws do need to be very restrictive - because what to one person is an innocent party picture to someone else is something quite different and could be used in all sorts of unimaginable ways.
So yes, I think knowing this we have to educate our children not to photograph any situation that could be misconstrued. Let them learn that lesson for life is best, that way they have a measure of protection against stalkers and who knows what else is ugly and out there in the world.
Ok, I told myself I wasn't going to read it - but I did. For whatever reason, I feel passionately about this.
These are our kids - they're not child porn pedlers. A 14 year old should not have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his/her life for being a stupid teenager. It ruins their lives and they're not mature enough to completely understand the devistation it can cause.
The laws should be changed for minors so these situations can be reviewed on a case by case situation.
I agree that this should be examined on a case-by-case basis. Intention should factor heavily into any legal action taken as a result of sexting.
My younger sister was the victim of a group of malicious girls who took pictures of her when she wasn't looking and then secretly doctored the photos and plastered them across the web. Those girls should be punished because their intention was harmful.
Had it been the situation you described, I would want education and discussion about sexting, but not such heavy legal punishment.
Of course, the lines aren't always that clearly drawn, are they?
My son's only 2, so I don't fall into the category of having a teenager. However, I still have an opinion! :) I do think charging kids with child pornography is harsh but it really depends on the circumstances. I think each situation needs to be evaluated.
If a girl texts a nude pic of herself to her boyfriend, he saves it, and later they break up, and then he decides to send it to his contact list or upload it to Internet as revenge... well, you can see where this could all lead.
One thing I know is that teenage boys do a lot of things without thinking beyond the moment. I think society doesn't understand them and I see many teenage boys in crisis. I'm not sure what the answer is....but I'm always trying to help my boys find. It's a difficult time for boys.
I think a teen charged with child pornography is too harsh in this case. There was an incidence of some girls doing this in our local middle school and though no one was charged it really opened a lot of eyes and started an education program on the subject that was really needed.
Hmmmm this is a toughy. I certainly DON'T think that these kids should be lumped in the same category as rapists and molesters, but I don't think it's a "victimless" crime either. I do think that the courts should start cracking down harder on child molesters... harder than they do those who embezzle money from companies.Just my thoughts, though...
I was a teacher of teenagers for several years, and I will say I don't envy the parents of teenagers at all--not because of the teenagers themselves, but because of pitfalls and dangers have changed so substantially since we were kids. And that wasn't all that long ago!
I find it daunting, the specificity of the nature of the dialogue that parents must engage in with teens; not so much because of the subject matter, but because there's such an information curve. I can only hope that, when the time comes, I'll be able to be as effective as I hope to be.
These kids (no matter the situation), need to be made aware of the law and need to know the consiquenses of breaking the law. These teens will need to learn at an early age what it is like to be an adult. If teens and parents insist on treating and being treated as adults, having cell phones as an example, then they will need to act as such. If teens want to be treated with the light of having the responsibility of a cell phone, then they need to take all that comes with that responsibility. If you break the law, you face consequences to that law. So yes, both should be prosecuted as sex offenders, b/c that is what it is, as sex offense. Did you know that statutory rape is not just an adult with a minor, but two minors as well? However, most parents won't push the matter.
On another note: I have an award for you @: http://bloggertowne.blogspot.com/2010/03/our-first-blog-award_22.html
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