More Info on Teens and "Sexting"

The stories of teens sending provocative photos of themselves via cell phones, and being surprised that they end up being distributed around the Internet continues. I've posted several times on this before (see my earlier post here and follow the other links on that post.) Again, these stories serve to underscore the need for parents to discuss this issue with their teens!

Remember the 15-year-old Ohio girl who faced child pornography charges for distributing naked cellphone photos of herself? There comes news that the charges were dropped, and the case will be dismissed if she completes a diversion program. But, most interesting of all, she revealed a typically teenage oh-by-the-way revelation during the hearing: Three of the male students who received her digital offerings also sent her back X-rated snapshots of themselves; now they might face charges, too.

That's not all in the way of teens being punished for "sexting," as it is now being called. Two teenage girls in Seattle were suspended from their cheerleading team after school officials discovered that they had taken nude cellphone photos of themselves that were circulated among students. One girl sent a topless photo to her then-boyfriend, which was "accidentally" leaked to other students; the other had a female friend take a nude snapshot, which also mysteriously ended up in other students' hands.

Now the girls' parents are suing the school, accusing "administrators of violating the girls' due process rights, needlessly sharing the photos with other school staff members and failing to promptly report the matter to police as possible child pornography," reports the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. The school did not punish the students -- including a reportedly large number of football players -- who were in possession of the photos.

Source: Salon
http://www.salon.com/mwt/broadsheet/2008/11/25/sexting/index.html

Comments

[MOM]

Im the mother of one of the boys being charged for sexting in greensburg pa. my son goes to greensburg salem high school. first thing i need to clear up is that my son wasnt the boy friend. he didnt even know the girl ! another boy sent the pic to him ! (the whole school had the pics on there phone ) a couple months ago. 3 girls (ages 13 and 14)took naked pics of there self and sent it to some boys. the boys sent the pics all over the school. my son received the pics from another boy that had received it. my sons phone was taken during school for texting. the principle went through the phone and found the pics and turned the phone in along with over 20 others with the same pics. the district Attn. decided to press charge on 6 kids. the 3 girls who took the pics of there self. and 3 boys. my son being one of them. my son did nothing wrong. the police said that ,they had to charge him cause the pic was saved not deleted he also said that my son could have had sex with the girls and that would have been OK .but its not OK to have naked pics of them.. there charging my son with 3 counts of SEXUAL ABUSE OF CHILDREN . THIS MEANS HE COULD BE ON MEGANS LAW FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE. ALL FOR HAVING A PIC ON HIS PHONE OF A GIRL HE DOESN'T KNOW. these are good kids that made a mistakes. what the girls did was wrong, but haven't they paid enough ? don't make them pay anymore. so what im trying to do is get the word out so people can see what is happening and how serious sexty is.these kids need are help.what they did was wrong, but there not sex offenders !People don't realize that this can happen to anyone. what if someone would send you a txt joke, you opened it and there was a joke with a pic of a half naked person . you save it or you just don't take the time to delete the pic. later someone finds it on your phone and it ends up that the person in the pic is 17 years old. YOUR GOING TO JAIL FOR SEXUAL ABUSE OF CHILDREN ! this isn't just about the kids its about all of us. Please help these kids . HELP ME CHANGE THE LAW TO FIT THIS CRIME! SO THAT OTHER KIDS DON'T HAVE THERE LIFES RUINED (sorry about the grammar and spelling) One more thing that i would like to add. for all the people out ther who are saying that its the parents fault, your wrong! im sick of everyone blaming me. my son is going to be 17. i cant watch him 24/7 !