Sexting Is Stupid, But Child Pornography?

Tech Analyst Larry Magid Warns Against Sending Racy Pics, But Urges Law Officers To Take Deep Breath

(CBS)  "Sexting" is the practice of taking a sexually revealing picture of yourself, typically from a cell phone, and sending it to someone. Legal consequences aside, it's a dumb thing to do, especially for younger age groups in which it has become something of a fad.

Even if you are comfortable with the person receiving the image, you never know for sure where else it might land. Digital images are easy to copy and forward and, even if you trust your friend's discretion, it can be accidentally forwarded or seen by others with access to your friend's phone or computer. It's not uncommon for such images to find their way to other people's cell phones and even Web pages, where they can be seen by anyone, copied, searched for and redistributed, perhaps forever.

For minors, there's another risk - serious legal consequences. Creating, transmitting and even possessing a nude, semi-nude or sexually explicit image of a minor can be considered child pornography. It can be prosecuted as a state or federal felony and can even lead to having to register as a sex offender.

Crazy as it seems, some prosecutors have gone after kids for taking and sending pictures of themselves. There was a case in Florida a couple of years ago where a teenage boy and girl photographed themselves nude and engaged in "unspecified sexual behavior." One kid sent the picture to the other and somehow the police got involved. They were tried and convicted for production and distribution of child porn and the teen who received the image had the additional charge of possession. An appeals court upheld the convictions.

In January this year, three teenage girls from Pennsylvania were charged for creating child porn and the three boys who received the images were charged for possessing it. The judge in that case ruled Monday to temporarily block the prosecutor from filing child pornography charges against the teens while he considers the merits of the case.

And, as reported by CBS News, a Texas eighth-grader spent a night in jail in October after a coach found a nude picture on his cell phone, sent by another student.

It's sadly ironic that the very child porn laws that were written to protect children from being exploited by adults could wind up having a devastating impact on the lives of children who, while acting stupid, have no criminal intent. For some perspective on whether this issue is or isn't overblown, see Anne Collier's post in NetFamily News.

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Click here to listen to Larry Magid interview Catholic University Law Professor Mary Leary on sexting.

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It's hard to know how prevalent the practice is. But if you believe the results of an online survey commissioned by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, about 22 percent of teenage girls and 18 percent of boys admit to having "electronically sent, or posted online, nude or semi-nude pictures or video of themselves." I'm not completely confident about the results of this study, which was carried out by a market research firm and not subject to academic peer review. But I think it's fair to assume that a significant number of kids are doing this.

Perhaps more interesting than the survey's overall number, is the breakdown of why teens take and send these pictures. Of those who reportedly sent such pictures, 71 percent of girls and 67 percent of boys said they sent or posted content to a boyfriend or girlfriend, while 21 percent of the girls and 39 percent of the boys say they sent it to someone they wanted to date.

As you might expect, peer pressure plays a role. Of those who sent such content, 51 percent of teen girls cited "pressure from a guy," while 18 percent of teen boys blamed pressure from girls.

While sexting is troubling, I think it's important for us all to take a deep breath and refrain from passing new laws or using child pornography laws that were designed to protect children from exploitation by adults.

I suspect that sexting will diminish over time. Kids aren't stupid and, faced with the facts, most will wise up. We also know that kids who get in trouble online are the same kids who get in trouble offline, so when teens repeatedly do sexting or other stupid or risky things online, it's important to intervene early and often.

The best thing for a parent to do is to have a non-confrontational conversation - perhaps over dinner - to ask your kids if they've heard about sexting and what they think about it. You might not get a straight answer but you'll open up a dialog that can go a long way toward helping your kids understand how to minimize legal, social and reputation risks.

There are more tips on ConnectSafely.org, a non-profit Internet safety site I help operate.

Boy, am I glad the Internet and camera phones weren't around when I was a kid.

[rigsbyt]

This may upset a lot of people but trying to change something that you cannot absolutely guarantee the outcome you are fighting a losing battle from the start and making more laws will only compuond the problem. When has any child or teenager done anything because they could? They usually do what every one gipes about just like in this article the more fuss is made the more the children and teenagers will do it because why? Someone says they can't... Reverse Child Psychology: The Child will always do the exact opposite of what adults think as right...

[imthisdudevin]

Bad idea? YES! but there is no need to over react. There are so many bigger more important problems. You have to learn from your mistakes. And this should not be considered child pornography.

[tazmjam]

In my opinion, by the age of 14, children's morality and capacity to reason are already fully formed - they can accumulate more information but they won't get any smarter. Posted by photobuff87


The frontal lobe of the brain is not fully developed in children and teenagers, this is the section of the brain which controls impulses and processes cause and effect relationships. This section of the brain is not completely developed until the late teens, early 20s. That is why so many children and teenagers act impulsively and do not think things through. Parents need to monitor what their children do. Why allow unnecessary risk where your children are concerned...if in doubt...take away the cell phones with cameras, they don?t need them.

[babooph]

There have always been a lot of whacos in the legal system.

[photobuff87]

Sexting is a stupid thing to do and children who do it must have a rather limited ability to apply logic to their decisions. The truly disturbing thing is how close they are to the age where they will be eligible to vote. In my opinion, by the age of 14, children's morality and capacity to reason are already fully formed - they can accumulate more information but they won't get any smarter.

[holy-joe-722]

It isn't the "Christian Taliban" but the trial lawyers and legal system that has nothing better to do than prosecute kids for their stupidity. These cases should be evaluated on a one-by-one basis. If, and ONLY if, there is unauthorized distribution should charges be filed. The rest should have their pictures deleted and their phoned erased - a punishment plenty deserving of the "crime" and one that eliminates (hopefully) the passing around of underage sexting.

[DefendLiberty]

Another example of what the CHRISTIAN TALIBAN in this country has created. Our country is becoming a "CHRISTIAN" POLICE STATE where "morals" are legislated, and nutty situations like this are becoming the norm. These throwbacks want to be in your bedroom, in your pants, and controlling your lives. It must stop.

The clergy, by getting themselves established by law and engrafted into the machine of government, have been a very formidable engine against the civil and religious rights of man.
-- Thomas Jefferson, 1800

"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross." - Sinclair Lewis

[J_G_H]

What do the proponents of "eradicating sin" not understand. The example of Jesus protecting and adulterous woman from death by stoning makes it clear that the sexting prosecution is precisely what Jesus would NOT do. There isalso the little thing about the Constitution not giving any one religious view driving government actions.

[presjfk]

This is a strange, strange country. I am not advocating for nudity but in context to what is truly obscene and that which is not, violence is the obscenity and nudity is a non-issue.

Our televisions are full of violence, people murdered in the most gruesome ways and few see any problem with it. It is obvious this violence has had a negative impact on our society, desensitizing everyone to violence and feeding the imagination with ideas of violence and hate. its no accident that school shootings have increased with tv coverage, the coverage feeds the sick minds filled with hatred.

The religious groups are not upset and demonstrating, the old folk aren't calling the tv stations in disgust, the FCC could not care less about tv violence....but....SHOW A WOMAN'S BREAST AND ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE. Look what happened with Janet Jackson during the Superbowl a couple years ago. The public was incensed, sponsors went running, the FCC filed charges and fines. Totally nuts.

Ever see a ***** on tv? nope. A vagina? nope. Some backside nudity occasionally and bikinis are plentiful. Sexuality is becoming more acceptable but still nudity is a big problem. I believe the sex on tv and increasing nudity may actually desensitize people to it, maybe a good thing. Much of Europe has full frontal nudity on tv and people are not jumping out windows, here they just might.

So what is wrong with this country that a guys head being blown off from a shotgun on prime time tv is okay but a breast is outrageous?

It is getting worse! We have the government prosecuting people, even teenagers for texting nude pics of themselves. Texting a nude pic of yourself to a sexual partner is not a crime or at least shouldn't be and prosecutors should know the difference between right and wrong, justice and persecution but obviously not in these cases. It sounds to me like some prosecutors are looking for publicity. I guess it matter not who gets destroyed in the process to further one's career?

The Puritan code of morality needs to end. 400 years is long enough.

[johndevinejr]

He also invented the snuggie.
Posted by gravyboat63 at 7:02 AM : Mar 31, 2009

I like to go to a street corner in Midtown Manhattan wearing a snuggie with nothing under it and rant all day long.

Unfortunately I cannot get a spot to rant from as other religious fanatics in snuggies have already staked out most of Midtown.

[johndevinejr]

No, prosescution isn't nearly enough to satisfy God's wrath. We need to publicly hang one of these evil children, it's the only way.
Posted by gravyboat63 at 6:40 AM : Mar 31, 2009

I'm pretty sure this is the exact philosophy expressed by Jesus Christ. I think he specifically stated, sex is wrong and bad don't do it. Also kill all the witches.

Thanks, have a nice day

[J_G_H]

In response to the "Christian" element in this discussion, the increase in number and severity of storms is the result of global warming, although when you mention this to their neocon friends, they often deny that there is anything unusual in our weather.
As for enforcement of laws with unduly hareh penalties to stamp out sin, this smacks more of the Old Testament. I use quotation marks around Christian because these people pretty much jump from the Old Testament to Revelation, loving the severity and strictness of the latter, when the actions of Jesus strongly suggest he would not be on their side. After all, in his day, adultery was punishablek, as in modern Iran, by death by stoning. Jesus, when confronted with a woman taken in adultery, said "Let he who is without sin throw the first stone". No one in the crowd threw a stone; Jesus then forgave her and released her. Of course, if the crowd had been composed of these modern "Christians" the woman would have been dead in seconds.

[braniff77]

I agree that prosecuting kids for this "crime" is a bit overboard, but maybe these initial cases will be enough to send the message out to kids that it's a dumb thing to do. But I also have two issues/concerns about this: 1. if it is just a nude photo of one underage person, is that still considered child pornography? By law, I'm not sure if it is in every state. Doesn't it have to show an "act"? And 2. If someone receives a photo on their phone, and they didn't ask for it, why should they be charged with possession? I can see it if they then pass it on to others, but just receiving the photo is grounds for prosecution? That seems a bit extreme to me. If someone sends me a letter or an e-mail with some illegal photos, that I did not ask for and which I do not want, I can be charged with possession?

[J_G_H]

The cases pubolicized range from actual photos of sex acts to girls in underwear. The latter cases clearly represent prosecutorieal excess. In fact, I am not sure, given the weakness of his case, what the difference is between a his actions and those of a blackmailer.
Some of the arguments for prosecution are incredibly weak. Do we want to protect girls from attracting the attention of a predator? The Muslims have the ultimate answer - the burqa. Will the photos come back to haunt them later? Possibly, but there are probably tens of thousands of women who have had no problems despite being photographed naked during the Hippie era. of the 60s and 70s. If sexting is as widespread as claimed (20% of teens, according to one poll) the existence of a nude photo on the internet is likely to become a non-issue.
The only real issue I have in the practice is the betrayal of the sender's trust by the recipient distributing the photos to others. This, I think is more properly a subject of civil suit rather than criminal prosecution. Whatever happened to gentlemen don't "kiss and tell"?

[Movn1]

This is just another case of coddling kids...well, its okay to send sex photos on their phones because they're just kids. Its okay to shoplift, they don't know any better. Its okay to bully kids because its just what kids do. Come on!!

[ubrew12]

Article: "Crazy as it seems, some prosecutors have gone after kids for taking and sending pictures of themselves."

We should arrest people for 'pillow talk' on the telephone also. This country was founded on the principles of Puritanism and has never recovered from its founding.

[ericv857]

Religion is stupid, that is why there is a sharp decline in religious affiliation in the US. Keep your religious beliefs to yourself and don't force your beliefs on me, I also enjoy freedom of no religion, this is America, a democracy, so all you religious zealots leave the country or keep your religion to yourself.

[ericv857]

The Federal judge that stopped to prosecution of those kids was finally an adult who is not stupid and hell bent on ruining kids lives when they have no criminal intent. Go after the shooters and gang members make our community truly safe.

[TNTROOFING]

Well we really have to be careful I don't understand how could she be charged with this because her information her nude photos was sent privately this information was stolen from her and she was charged with it a double whammy we have to make this information safe to transfer safe to be on my computer without a being stolen and being charged for it again what's on my computer is my personal information I should not be charged with anything on my computer

[antoniof123]

The people making these laws are idiots because in the end the children who suffer will be the ones chosing their retirement homes unless the kids pass a law that says the older people get shipped off to the glue factory.

LOL.....

While dumb yes, punish them like some small non chargeable offense not a record that will last. Must be some religious nut but remember they will be the ones in charge in the future so go a head tick them off morons.