The Virginia State Crime Commission just completed its final meeting of 2009, and among the various items on the agenda was a review of legislative recommendations surrounding the growing ’sexting’ issue. As the proliferation of camera phones in the hands of the youth has grown, so has the utilization of these technologies for ‘illicit’ purposes (although it also seems to be a growing concern for the 55+ set). The mashup of Sex + Texting has resulted in a whole new set of issues for parents and lawmakers worldwide.
While the VSCC elected to dodge the entire issue at this point, stating that creating legal protection for children caught with such material may generate loopholes for pedophiles and sex offenders, numerous other states and countries have tackled the topic head on, often resulting in criminal charges, including accusations of child pornography being levied against six teenagers in Pennsylvania. The convoluted issue also nearly cost a Loudoun County assistant principal his job & freedom in 2008, after the principal requested that he maintain a copy of a sexually explicit image discovered on a students cellphone for evidence purposes.
One New Jersey based non-profit, the Institute for Responsible Online and Cell-Phone Communication (I.R.O.C.2), has stepped into the foreground with their campaign titled ‘Sexting Is Stupid’. The program relies heavily on creating & reinforcing open, constructive communication with teenagers who may be engaging in the activity, with pages titled “Are You Stupid”, and posting the following warning list:
- Were you ever irresponsible either as a kid touching a hot stove, or smoking (underage), or drinking underage, or trying drugs?
- Did you ever disobey your parents, teachers or caretakers when they told you not to do something and even offered you a ton of information about why you shouldn’t?
- Have you ever been irresponsible or brake the law as an adult (e.g. speeding, running a red light, missing work for no reason)?
- Have you ever posted your status on Facebook or another web page (private or public) as “On Vacation”, “Traveling” or “Out”?
Well if you answered “YES” to any of the questions above (even # 4), your life may have been over at a very young age (or it could be altered soon) as is the case for many people of today’s digital generation, because it only takes a few seconds of irresponsibility online to ruin your life.
A much more interesting counterpoint (and movement to strike ’sexting’ from word status) is offered by Marina, of HotForWords.com.
Two bills are currently being drafted for possible submission to the 2010 General Assembly, which begins session January 13th. Whether these bills will be filed in light of the VSCCs findings is yet to be determined. [Info]
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- Crime Weekend of Irony
- Charlottesville Misrepresenting Car Crime Statistics?
I am twelve, and what is this?
/also, the game.
The French are laughing at us right now.
I’m curious about how many parents ever read their younger teenagers’ text messages, or whether they should have the expectation of privacy there (even if parent is paying for phone).
Of course they are, the genial folk. They’d be having lots of freedom of sexual expression under the Third Reich.
There’s also the James Lipton give it a ponder ads. This is the one where he refers to a guy’s junk: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8H4CB6ok4E .
Teenagers being horny with each other isn’t some new trend, it’s just a different medium. Sexting is a stupid term.
How about Booty-Call?
They have it backwards. It’s not the sexting and horniness that’s the problem, but the subsequent bullying accompanying it when the recipient forwards that picture to the entire school. However, I don’t think there’s a need to create a statute exempting teenagers from those laws – if it’s ok for them to take it and have it of themselves, how it fair that someone else could go to jail for that? Likewise, if someone can get suspended from school for forwarding a naked pic of a classmate, how is it fair that the sender doesn’t get punished too? It seems like an unresolvable dilemma, until you remember that someone paid big money for their kid’s fancy camera phone.
for reals. I don’t even have a picture-sending plan.
wait I didn’t even have a cell phone at that age. I collect-called my parents to pick me up places because I didn’t have a car either.
kids these days. punks.
I had to hop home with a nail in my boot, while my parents flailed me with spiky branches and threw molten lava at me.
kids these days. assholes.
When I was in high school, we used to bully kids by dumping pig’s blood on their heads at the prom. Forwarding pictures is for sissies.
(847): my mom just asked me about sexting and if I have ever sent a naked picture to anyone. i fucking hate fox news.