CHICAGO, Feb. 4, 2009
Teen "Sexting" Worries Parents, Schools
Prosecutors Have Filed Charges Against Kids Who Send Out Photos Of Their Naughty Bits
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Teenagers' habit of distributing nude self-portraits electronically — often called "sexting" if it's done by cell phone — has parents and school administrators worried. (CBS/iStockphoto)
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Play CBS Video Video Dangers Of Teen 'Sex-ting' What teens call "sex-ting" is the act of sharing nude or partially nude photos via cell phone text message. As Harry Smith reports, few realize they are breaking the law.
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Teenagers' habit of distributing nude self-portraits electronically - often called "sexting" if it's done by cell phone - has parents and school administrators worried. Some prosecutors have begun charging teens who send and receive such images with child pornography and other serious felonies. But is that the best way to handle it?
"Hopefully we'll get the message out to these kids," says Michael McAlexander, a prosecutor in Allen County, Ind., which includes Fort Wayne. A teenage boy there is facing felony obscenity charges for allegedly sending a photo of his private parts to several female classmates. Another boy was recently charged with child pornography in a similar case.
In some cases, the photos are sent to harass other teens or to get attention. Other times, they're viewed as a high-tech way to flirt. Either way, law enforcement officials want it to stop, even if it means threatening to add "sex offender" to a juvenile's confidential record.
"We don't want to throw these kids in jail," McAlexander says. "But we want them to think."
This month in Greensburg, Pa., three high school girls who sent seminude photos and four male students who received them were all hit with child pornography charges. And in Newark, Ohio, a 15-year-old high school girl faced similar charges for sending her own racy cell phone photos to classmates. She eventually agreed to a curfew, no cell phone and no unsupervised Internet usage over the next few months. If she complies, the charges will be dropped.
In Pennsylvania, all but one of the students accepted a lesser misdemeanor charge, partly to avoid a trial and further embarrassment, a public defender in the case said. The mother of one boy is considering fighting all charges.
Whatever the outcome, the mere fact that child pornography charges were filed at all is stirring debate among students and adults.
At Greensburg-Salem High School in Pennsylvania, junior Jamie Bennish says she's not sure the boys in her school's case should've been charged.
"They did not necessarily choose to receive the pictures, although I find it questionable that they did not delete the photos from their cell phones after some period of time," she says. "As for the girls, there is no excuse for exposing yourself in that way, and any charges they receive they have brought upon themselves."
Dante Bertani, chief public defender in Westmoreland County, Pa., where the students went to court, called the felony charges "horrendous." He says such treatment should be reserved for sex offenders, not teenagers who might've used poor judgment, but meant nothing malicious.
"It should be an issue between the school, the parents and the kids - and primarily the parents and the kids," Bertani says. "It's not something that should be going through the criminal system."
These cases do pose a dilemma, concedes Wes Weaver, the principal at Licking Valley High School, where the Ohio girl attends school.
He agrees that pornography charges or other felonies are not appropriate, noting that "the laws have not caught up to technology."
But he says there has to be some way to educate students and their parents about the harm these photos can do - and the fact that, once they're out there, they often get widely circulated. Days before his staff discovered the girl's nude photos, the county prosecutor had been at the school to warn students against sexting.
"I don't think we're anywhere near having a handle on this," Weaver says. "It's beyond our scope as a school."
Parents are also often at a loss.
Some companies, such as WebSafety Inc., have developed software that parents can use to monitor certain activity on cell phones and computers. They can, for instance, block X-rated texting terms or be alerted when their child is using them, says Mike Adler, the company's CEO.
Photos are trickier, though, and often require a parent to manually check a child's phone.
And that's OK to do, says Dr. Terri Randall, an adolescent psychiatrist in Philadelphia.
"It could be part of the contract of having a cell phone, that you really don't get 100 percent privacy. It's just one more way of keeping track, like knowing what your kid is doing and where they are," says Randall, who's also an instructor at Jefferson Medical College.
Randall says she's seeing more issues related to sexting, especially as cell phones with cameras have become standard. One mother brought her daughter in to be psychologically evaluated after finding provocative cell phone photos of the girl.
Other patients tell Randall how sexting and texting explicit messages has caused relationship problems, especially after a breakup, when photos might be distributed out of spite, for instance.
So she reminds her young patients: "Even though it seems like fun and so exciting right now, that person may not always feel the same way about you. And you may not feel the same way about that person either."
But is it porn? That's questionable, she and others say.
Certainly, technology makes it easier to do and say things we might not do in person, says Amanda Lenhart, a senior researcher with the Pew Internet & American Life Project.
"But ultimately," she says, "I think this is merely another case of technology extending an activity or action that young people have engaged in for years, if not beyond that."
© MMIX The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The secrets of tennis legend 
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See all 99 CommentsI was an honor student, who was part of student council as well as every other club on campus, I played sports, I was in the National Honors Society, and I graduated top ten percent of my class, I even gave a speech at graduation. I was the all around goody good in high school (only 2 years ago). With that being said I was very rebellious and I never once left my cell phone unattended, let alone let my mother go through it. I paid for my own phone and paid my own bill. The phone was in my name and I was the only one who had full access to it. There was no way she or anyone else was going to look through it. That is not to say I disrespected my mother, but I firmly stated that it was mine and I was not going to let her get into it. On the other hand, she never really did try. I never really gave her reason to. When I was around 17 and 18 I started dating and I starting texting. Granted I never sent nude pictures of myself, however I did send explicit messages to others. Another popular trend when I was that age was pornographic cartoons. I would get countless forwards of naked cartoons doings something extreme. This was normal to me as well as all my friends. We only considered it to be flirting.
When I met my husband at 18, I would send him similar messages all the time because for a while we had a long distance relationship. In my mind there is nothing wrong with this.
I do however find it very disturbing that a 12 year old is sending pictures of his or her naked body to others. I feel that at age 12 he or she should not even be concerned with sex at all. At 12 years old he or she should not even have a cell phone. I realize that times are changing and technology is advancing however children still need boundaries. I do not feel that a 12 year old should have such freedom. And what it comes down to is a parenting issue. There is a large difference between a 17 year old and a 12 year old. Granted such activities as sexting are normal for young developing individuals, I do not believe that children so young have any business engaging in it. If a parent is going to give his or her child so much freedom at such a young age he or she will take it and start acting on it. This is where the open line of communication comes in.
Less they start fexting for reals.
There is a thing called age of consent and if the teens in question consent to sending and receiving pictures then let them and then they can deal with the negative affects. You people have to let us teens grow up and learn from our own mistakes.
As a parent ask yourself what will pisss you off.
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Posted by mortal3 at 07:13 AM : Feb 06, 2009
The same way we got along before school massacres?
Posted by rf35 at 10:42 AM : Feb 05, 2009
Brilliant idea except if there were an actual emergency and the kiddles (and teachers) could not call home or the five-oh, the school would have a lawsuit on their hands.
Posted by CloverNYC at 12:47 PM : Feb 05, 2009
The wonderful thing about the jammers...they can be turned off quickly and easily.
Hey parents, call your cell phone provider and request a block on texting. It''''s free and fast. End of problem.
Posted by shameonbush
The problem with this is the parents would actually have to put forth some small amount of effort. The simplest answer is to ignore the issue until it becomes public, then blame the school. As we see from other articles, especially regarding minors'' use of the internet, the parents just don''t want to do anything to actually be involved in their childrens'' lives. The cell phone is a tool worth investing in because they can have a sense of being connected without actually getting up off the couch. It is becoming rare to see parents engaged in the upbringing of their own offspring. Kudos to those parents who take an active role and don''t rely on technology to raise their kids.
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Posted by Spaspy at 02:31 PM : Feb 05, 2009
I like the way you conveniently ignore the way in which these two were attacked by that good republican repo-man. I do not think that anything these two posted even came close to the vitriol that was spewed at them. Please take your holier-than-thou attitude out and get it cleaned. I also notice that you had no hesitation in launching a political attack against liberaleagle and alpha1000.
Posted by CloverNYC at 04:23 PM : Feb 05, 2009
YES that would be a crime!! A 50 year old should get his/her own house, stop sponging off his/her Mom and leave the 12 year olds alone!!!
Posted by akpals at 03:57 PM : Feb 05, 2009
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Oh I get it. It is only a crime when the sender is a 50 year old pedophile living in his mother`s basement and the boyfriend is a 12 year old girl.
As for the whole business of letting teens have cell phones posted by jennmarie, I personally feel better knowing my teen is only a phone call away and I love the fact that if she needs me she can reach me no matter where either of us is at. Saves me a lot of worry. By the way, the fact that you haven''t been on welfare or investigated by child services does not make you Mom of the year, nor does your college degree. Most parents have not been on welfare nor have they been investigated by child services. There are also millions of parents who have a degree. You just made yourself sound stupid.
Posted by reticentreba at 09:59 AM : Feb 05, 2009
Excuse me, but who are you to judge me for having my oldest child when I was young? I have raised both of my children to know right from wrong without the help of welfare and without ever being investigated by Children''s Services. I also have a college degree. At 27, I am more responsible than MANY people in their 40''s, and probably pay more attention to my children than many people in their 40''s these days. If you''re going to let your MINOR CHILD have a cellphone, at least be responsible enough to monitor their use with it - but seeing as how most parents don''t bother with that aspect of this issue, then the MINOR CHILDREN shouldn''t have unlimited access to cellphones.
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