Sexting: how far is too far?
Jeffrey Costello
Issue date: 5/8/09 Section: Opinion
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Such is the case in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, where six teens (three boys and three girls) are being charged with possession and distribution of child pornography. This stems from an incident where the three girls sent nude pictures of themselves to three boys.
This same situation is playing out in other parts of America. According to CNN.com, in Middleton, Ohio; a 13 year-old boy is being charged with a felony for showing his friends a video of sex acts.
These teens face being labeled as sex offenders if convicted of their respective charges. They could have a very hard time landing a job, finding places to live and even may be rejected from going to many colleges, ruining their chance for a better life. Not to mention the stigma our society places on sex offenders. Most don't care why these people are on the list, just that they are presumably bad people. Finally, they would have no privacy because they'd need to be registered on watchdog.com, a registry that tracks where sex offenders live.
This begs the question: Is the law going too far in dealing with sexting?
Some prosecutors disagree and are following the law to the letter, bringing heavy charges against teens. It looks like a self-righteous, "we need to send a message" crusade that has prosecutors jumping on the bandwagon looking for their "break-out" case to jump-start their careers. Even if they have to hurt the "bad guys" in ways that can never be fixed. Then, when a different moral dilemma afflicts our proud nation, they'll move on.
Marissa Miller of Pennsylvania is one of these "immoral wrongdoers" targeted by prosecutors. Three years ago, at a sleepover with some friends, Marissa had a picture taken while wearing a training bra. Somehow the picture made it onto a classmate's cell phone and then into the hands of Wyoming County DA George Skumanick, who is bringing up charges against Marissa.
"I wasn't trying to be sexual," Marissa told CNN, "I was having fun with my friends at a sleepover, taking pictures, dancing to music." The Millers are working in collaboration with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to get Skumanick to drop the charges on Marissa, according to CNN.com.
But what makes teens engage in sexting? Why are the penalties so outrageous? Dr. Lynda Race, a psychology professor on campus who teaches child development, hinted in a recent interview that technology is at the root of this new trend and that it evolves beyond just sexting.
"We have so much technology and [teens are] supposedly so tech-savvy, but they don't understand what that technology can do," said Dr. Race. Also remarking that most teens are unaware of where that picture will end up or who will end up in possession of it.
Additionally, Dr. Race guessed that a need for attention, peer pressure and uninformed parents were three other likely factors for sexting. "I would guess [about] three quarters of parents out there don't even know what [sexting] is," Race commented, "and they're not checking up on their children."
Dr. Race also believes that the current penalties raised against teenage offenders is over the top and is not the best way to curb the behavior. "You're dealing with adolescents," Dr. Race said, "[they] don't understand the full implications of [their actions]."
As such, Dr. Race thinks that there should be a change in the way teens are punished for their behavior and proposed measures to stop the behavior before it starts. She stressed that any punishment for sexting "could work if it was the right type." Suggesting that teens convicted of sexting should be made to speak to other students about the consequences and why they did it.
In order to prevent sexting from happening, or to at least stop as much as possible, Dr. Race suggested that schools should take certain steps. Like having counselors or mentors that teens can talk to about issues of sexting, or even other problems related to all the technological improvements in our society, such as cyber bullying and the like.
"There's a big need for teaching children/students how to deal with the amount of technology out there," Dr. Race stated. She added that all these technology-based issues like those related to social networking sites are "entwined" with sexting. As a result of these emerging issues with technology, she believes there should be educational programs that inform students about Facebook, sexting and other "new age" issues so that they understand what implications their actions can have.
The time for the law to change is now. While I don't condone sexting, I believe that the law is going way too far in its convictions and it needs reform. There ought to be programs in our schools that educate America's youth on all the new technology and the risks/dangers that come along with it.
If you desire to see the law changed, then speak up. Contact the New York State District Attorney for your home county and voice your opinion on how the law handles sexting along with your suggestions for improvement. For those interested, you can find a roster of New York's District DA's along with their contact information at www.nysdaa.org/daroster.cfm.