In a technology world where anything can be copied, sent, posted, and seen by huge audiences, there’s no such thing as being able to control the teenage sexting images. Even if a photo was taken and sent as a token of love, the intention doesn’t matter — the technology makes it possible for everyone to see your child’s most intimate self. And in the hands of teenage sexting, when revealing photos are made public the subject almost always becomes the object of ridicule and name calling. Furthermore, sending sexual images to minors is against the law, and some states have begun prosecuting kids for child pornography or felony obscenity.
Fortunately, networks with large teen audiences — MTV, for example — are using their platforms to warn teens against the dangers of teenage sexting. And the website That’s Not Cool uses teen-speak to help resist cyber peer pressure. Hopefully, these messages will get through.
New Jersey has gotten a fair share of attention lately thanks to the arrest of a 14-year-old Clifton girl for posting nude pictures to her Myspace page.
But here’s the kicker–the girl is facing child pornography charges and may have to register under Megan’s Law for life as a dangerous sex offender.
Now I wholeheartedly believe this teen is misguided, needs some help and should be forced to remove the picture, but I think lumping this under Megan’s Law is totally insane.
What do readers think?
When I think of a child pornographer or a sex offender, I think of an adult that preys on or exploits helpless children.
A ‘sexting’ teen, on the other hand, is a hormone driven young adult that makes stupid decisions in an attempt to a) fit in, b) get attention or c) find love in all the wrong places.
Besides the nudity involved, I can’t find anything remotely similar between the two.
Yes, this girl put “pornography” out on the internet and yes, she is technically a child, but it was not done to exploit or abuse her. She did it to herself for whatever reason.
Similarly, forcing this seriously misguided teen to register under Megan’s Law as a sex offender is only going to make things worse. If that happens, she can pretty much kiss a good job and a trusting relationship with her neighbors goodbye in the future.
Even Megan Kanka’s mother (the girl for whom Megan’s Law was named) has gone on the record to say, “”This shouldn’t fall under Megan’s Law in any way, shape or form. She should have an intervention and counseling, because the only person she exploited was herself.”
This leads me to my final two points.
Teenagers make bad decisions. I know I made a few–and thank God they didn’t follow me around for the rest of my life.
Those pictures do not make the girl in this case a predator, and I hope the prosecutors will move on and go after the real criminals out there that endanger and exploit our children.
Finally, if you are the parent of a teen, make sure you know what’s going on online. Google your kid. Check their Myspace and Facebook pages. Learn how to check your web history–especially if child pornography charges start coming down for risque behavior online.
Teens have tunnel vision and don’t understand the long term consequences of a Megan’s Law violation on their record. Therefore, it’s up to us as parents to make sure our kids are doing the right thing and behaving appropriately online.
But what do you think? Should teens face child pornography charges for posting nude pics online? Or better yet– what should be the consequences of posting nude pictures online?