Sexting Leads to Suspension, Misdemeanor and Felony Charges for Teens

The New York Department of Education is considering new rules that would allow schools to suspend teenagers who send suggestive text messages or photos for 90 days. The rules would apply to sexts (as they are called) sent both within and outside of school hours. This is not the first set of rules attempting to deal with sexting and it certainly won't be the last.

For years now, legislative branches across the country have been adopting laws that criminalize sexting. Depending on the state, sexting carries anything from a fine and a required educational program to a class 2 misdemeanor to a felony charge of child pornography. Basically, no one knows exactly how to penalize teenagers who distribute nude or suggestive photos of themselves or of other teens.

The challenge in creating appropriate legislation is that the sexting problem is three-fold.  It involves teenagers who don't understand the ramifications of using technology to nude photos of themselves, teenagers who send suggestive photos of other people out to the school and beyond, and the child sex offenders who might be the recipient of these photos.

The teen who sends photos or racy messages to their significant other is simply victim to his or her own raging hormones, immaturity, and lack of understanding about online privacy. Many teens seem to be unaware that once you send someone an e-copy of a message or photo, it can go viral in a matter of minutes. Privacy is lost once an image or note goes online. These teens should be educated about this both in school and by their parents. They should not be punished in a court of law.

However, the teen that passes on suggestive photos or messages to schoolmates or people outside of school is intentionally performing a malicious act. The reason behind this act may be immaturity (the person in the photos dumped the sender for the sender's best friend, etc.) but the act is still meant to damage reputations and is a form of bullying. It should be punished as such.

The fundamental concern for some lawmakers, though, is not the teens involved in sexting. It's the child sex offenders who may, at some point in the chain, end up as recipients of nude photos of minors. This is a very legitimate concern as it opens up the possibility that a teen who sends a nude photo of herself to her boyfriend could end up as the victim of a sex offender.

The sexting issue shows that technology, while very beneficial, has the potential to have catastrophic effects on teenagers' lives both in school and out. Teens need to be educated about online privacy and what can happen to messages and photos once they are live. Perhaps if we can better teach our teens about technology, we won't have to spend so much time penalizing them for using it.

Photo Credit: Zawezome