Teen 'sexting' craze leading to child porn arrests
In a very troubling new trend spreading across the nation n, teens and pre-teens are sending nude or semi-nude pictures to one another on their mobile phones in a practice called "sexting".
Though the youngsters see the activity as tantalizing fun, for some it is starting to lead to serious consequences. Recently, teenagers have been arrested on child pornography charges and there have been reports of high-schoolers losing jobs or college scholarships as a result of being identified in sexually-suggestive pictures that have appeared on the internet.
Research conducted by The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy last month revealed that 20 per cent of teens in the United States admit that they have sent or posted lewd photos or video of themselves. According to the national study, most teenagers were sending the explicit messages to friends.
On Monday, six high-school students in Greensburgh, Pennsylvania were arrested on child pornography charges. Three were girls who allegedly took pictures of themselves, and were charged with manufacturing, disseminating or possessing child pornography. Three were boys from the same school who were found with the explicit photos on their mobile phones by police, and were charged with possession of child pornography.
Last year, in Goshen, Ohio a 19-year-old cheerleading coach was convicted of indecency charges after taking a topless photo of herself and a 15-year-old girl. And in Texas, a 13-year-old boy was arrested on child pornography charges in October, after receiving a nude photo of a fellow student on his mobile phone. In 2007 girls at Castle Rock Middle School in Colorado took naked pictures of themselves on their cellphones and then sent them to their boyfriends. The boys then forwarded the pictures to their friends. Dozens of students at the school, which includes seventh and eighth grades, receive d the photos. The Internet Crimes Against Children team of Castle Rock police investigated the incident but no charges were reported.
Though authorities have taken a dim view of the "sexting," in many cases seeking to charge and prosecute adolescents involved aggravates the circumstances that would encourage the risky behavior. Educating youngsters of the long-term consequences and dangers of such conduct would appear to better serve the public than filling our court dockets with these charges.