Sexting & Teens: Is Your Child Safe?

Another teen trend, was one of yesterday's top stories on The Today Show. I discovered the new term used when teens send sexually explicit texts or picture messages via their cell phones. Sexting. The shocking new trend is causing some unexpected effects. There are several cases where teenagers are being charged and CONVICTED with creating and/or distributing pornogrophy or child pornography. A typical scenerio involves a teenage girl sending self-taken nude or semi nude photos to her boyfriend's cell. From there, it can go a myriad of ways. There's instances of the girl being charged with child pornogrophy for sending the image. Another situation involves a ex-boyfriend sending the photos to everyone in his cell phone as a result of a bad break up. Of course the teen girl is endlessly ridiculed by her peers. There's just so many ways sexting can go terribly, horribly wrong. Apparently one girl killed herself last week as the result of her sexy image being sent to several kids in school by a former boyfriend.

It appears there's quite a debate over how to deal with teens who sext. Should the young person sending sexy images be criminally charged with distributing pornogrophy or child pornogrophy? If so, then this crime forces them to register as a sex offender. Is that a fair punishment? Should this be classified as criminal intent or social problem? Here's the basic argument as I understand it:

Young people are simply expressing themselves in a normal fashion using the technology available. The "outdated" sex offender's law hasn't caught up with today's technology.

Personally, I think kids are getting cell phones way too early in life along without any usage guidelines. My eight year old son has friends with cell phones! Why does an eight year old need a cell phone? Of course my son wants one since his friends have one but right now he doesn't need one. Cell phones have a place in our society and even in our children's lives but we, as parents, have to be responsible. You simply cannot give a child or teen any sort of interactive technology and NOT teach them how to properly and safely use it. It would be like putting them behind the wheel of the car without teaching them how to stop the vehicle!

I don't condone anyone's behavior in the scenerio's I described above by any stretch. I wouldn't send a racy picture of myself to my husband for fear of internet hackers plastering my very embarrassing photo across the internet for GAZILLIONS of people to see. HORROR! SHAME! As a woman, I will not make myself vulnerable to that type of ridcule. If I don't snap it and send it, or say it and text it, then no one can use it against me! On the other hand, there should be no toleration for sending a letter, text, sext, picture, whatever to a group contact list simply because your mad, upset, or hurt. We need to teach our youth realistic and adequate ways to deal with their passions and desires as well as the pain and anger. After all, they're just nothing more than raging hormones at this stage which can be dangerous without the proper guidance!

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