The 'Sexting' Trend Threatens Everyone

12-17-2008 National:

Recently, a couple of teenage girls were expelled from a Seattle-area school after nude photos they took of themselves via cellphone cameras and sent to boyfriends were distributed around the school -- a practice known by the buzzy new buzzword “sexting.” Similar cases are being reported around the country and around the world.

The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy just released a sobering study on sex and technology showing that 20 percent of teens as young as 13 have reported sending nude or suggestive pictures of themselves over the 'Net, along with a whopping 33 percent of young adults aged 20 to 26.

In some ways, the rise of sexting is completely predictable. These are teens we’re talking about: experimental, curious, sex-crazed hormone bombs, rarely known for their thoughtful consideration of long-term consequences. One of the byproducts of growing up digital is that the exposure to information on the Internet can lead to a false sense of sophistication. Kids engage in stuff knowing the facts, but are emotionally unable to comprehend the real risks to their future.

Also, the barriers to entry are practically nonexistent. Most teens have cellphones with cameras, and nearly all teens text. I’m frankly surprised it’s taken this long for the concept of sexting to break the surface of public consciousness, given that it’s probably been going on since the first teen figured out how to send the first photo.

Then there is the matter of the law. In the U.S. and most of the world, it is a serious crime to own or distribute sexual images of people under 18. While obviously meant to protect young people from exploitation by pedophiles, the legal definitions of kiddie porn don’t distinguish between the stuff that is traded by the dirty-raincoat crowd on underground sites versus snapshots posted on MySpace or Flickr.

The explosion of sexting as a widespread phenomenon therefore potentially implicates millions of people in crimes that used to be the exclusive province of hardcore sickos and the very worst kinds of mob activity.

Should the clueless 18-year-old college freshman who posts sexual imagery of his 17-year-old ex-girlfriend on his blog share a cell with the Russian mafia lieutenant who runs a pay site trafficking in videos of exploited Eastern European teenagers?

Should the 16-year-old girls who send pictures of themselves to their boyfriends be sentenced to psychological counseling for the criminally insane or be put on sex-offender watch lists?

How about the parents who own the PC where their teenager has downloaded or received emailed photos from friends?

The laws in these areas are strict, clear, and unforgiving. Even judges do not always have discretion once the machinery has been engaged.

These are the kinds of really messy, unpleasant issues that sexting raises, even beyond the raw shock value that the teens-and-sex angle always delivers.

It’s troubling enough that we may be raising a generation with no sense of boundaries. It’s horrifying to consider that one teenager in five is engaging in activity that could expose themselves, their friends, their parents, and potentially anyone who goes to their Website to criminal accusations that no law-abiding person should ever have to face. ..News Source.. by Rob Salkowitz