Tuesday, January 20, 2009

"Sexting" surprise: teens face child porn charges

MSNBC reports that six high school students in Pennsylvania face child pornography-related criminal charges. Three girls took nude photos of themselves on their own cellphones and sent them on to three boys. The girls are 14-15 years old, the boys are 16-17.

The prosecutor argues that the photos could easily make their way onto the Internet, where they would then really be child porn.

However, the fact remains that those photos did not get onto the Net.

Some American children are clearly pushing the boundaries too far. I think people with a healthy attitude toward sex should clearly be worried about 'sexting', especially at that age.

However, clearly, the prosecutor involved doesn't have a healthy attitude towards sex. If convicted, these teenagers would have to register as sex offenders for up to 10 years. Again, the photographs in question did not find their way onto the Internet. This is a clear case of overkill.

Europeans in general seem to have healthier attitudes towards sex than Americans. It would be interesting to hear about the prevalence of 'sexting' in Europe and to find out what school authorities and law enforcement are doing there.

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