The dangers of sexting
Prevention through education
Editorial
Issue date: 4/27/09 Section: Opinion
More and more teens are putting their reputation, future and even their lives in danger by participating in the growing trend of "sexting."
This act of sending sexually-explicit text messages and pictures through a cell phone can have damaging results, but teenagers who participate in the act should not have their futures ruined by being labeled sex offenders and charging them with child pornography.
In Pennsylvania, six high school students, who range in ages from 14-17, face charges of child pornography after three teenage girls allegedly took nude or semi-nude photos of themselves and sent the pictures to three male classmates. The district attorney who has charged the students claims that it should be considered child pornography because once it's on a cell phone, it can be uploaded onto the Internet and therefore be seen by sexual predators.
In Texas, an eighth grader spent the night in a juvenile detention center after his football coach found a nude picture on his cell phone a fellow student sent him.
Pornography laws were put into affect to protect children from adults, not from other children. These teenagers need to be punished, but not in such a way that it could ruin their future and cause them to be labeled as sex offenders. We need to teach teenagers the full extent of the consequences, so they can learn before they act.
The district attorney in Pennsylvania has been temporarily blocked from filing charges after a group of parents, with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union, filed a suit against the district attorney. He has been blocked pending a hearing in June.
According to the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, 20 percent of teens and young adults said they had sent or posted nude or semi-nude photos or videos of themselves. We need more education in schools, not just about chatting with people online, but also explaining that once someone posts something online, it is there forever and they can't control who sees it.
This act of sending sexually-explicit text messages and pictures through a cell phone can have damaging results, but teenagers who participate in the act should not have their futures ruined by being labeled sex offenders and charging them with child pornography.
In Pennsylvania, six high school students, who range in ages from 14-17, face charges of child pornography after three teenage girls allegedly took nude or semi-nude photos of themselves and sent the pictures to three male classmates. The district attorney who has charged the students claims that it should be considered child pornography because once it's on a cell phone, it can be uploaded onto the Internet and therefore be seen by sexual predators.
In Texas, an eighth grader spent the night in a juvenile detention center after his football coach found a nude picture on his cell phone a fellow student sent him.
Pornography laws were put into affect to protect children from adults, not from other children. These teenagers need to be punished, but not in such a way that it could ruin their future and cause them to be labeled as sex offenders. We need to teach teenagers the full extent of the consequences, so they can learn before they act.
The district attorney in Pennsylvania has been temporarily blocked from filing charges after a group of parents, with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union, filed a suit against the district attorney. He has been blocked pending a hearing in June.
According to the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, 20 percent of teens and young adults said they had sent or posted nude or semi-nude photos or videos of themselves. We need more education in schools, not just about chatting with people online, but also explaining that once someone posts something online, it is there forever and they can't control who sees it.
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