Should Sexting Be Considered Child Pornography?

Sexting” is the practice of sending a sexually explicit text or taking a sexually revealing picture of yourself, (typically from a cell phone), and sending it to someone. Putting the legal consequences aside, it is just a dumb thing to do, especially for younger age groups in which it has become something of a trend.

Children and teens need to be taught early that even if you are comfortable with the person receiving the image, you never know for sure where else it might land. Digital images are easy to copy and forward and, even if you trust your friend’s discretion, it can be accidentally forwarded or seen by anyone else who has access to your friend’s phone or computer. It’s not uncommon for such images to find their way to other people’s cell phones and even Web pages, where they can be seen by anyone, copied, searched for and redistributed and rarely stopped. .

For minors, there’s another serious risk-legal consequences. Creating, transmitting and even possessing a nude, semi-nude or sexually explicit image of a minor can be considered child pornography under the law. It can also be prosecuted as a state or federal felony and can even lead to having to register as a sex offender.

While it may seem crazy, some prosecutors have gone after kids for taking and sending pictures of themselves. Teens across the country are facing serious felony charges for being involved in sexting. This ranges from being the subject of the picture, receiving the text or picture and/or redistributing the text or pictures. And while most of these cases have resulted in convictions and have gone on to appeal, most appeals courts upheld the convictions.

It has become sadly ironic that the very child porn laws that were written to protect children from being exploited by adults could wind up having a devastating impact on the lives of children who, while acting stupidly, have no criminal intent. Teens have much less reasoning and far more impulsive behavior than their adult counterparts and are far less likely to consider the long term consequences of what happens simply by pushing the “send” button.

While it is somewhat hard to know how prevalent the practice is exactly, the trend seems to be growing. An online survey found about twenty-two percent of teenage girls and eighteen percent of boys admitted to having “electronically sent, or posted online, nude or semi-nude pictures or video of themselves.” Perhaps more interesting than the survey’s overall number, is the breakdown of why teens take and send these types of pictures. Of those who reportedly sent such pictures, seventy-one percent of girls and sixty-seven percent of boys said they sent or posted sexting content to a boyfriend or girlfriend, while twenty-one percent of the girls and thirty-nine percent of the boys say they sent it to someone they wanted to date.

While sexting is certainly troubling, it’s important for us all to take a deep breath and refrain from passing new laws or using child pornography laws that were designed to protect children from exploitation by adults. The practice of sexting should be dealt with in the context that it happens-a misguided and ill-thought out action by teens who do not understand the true consequences.

Experts predict that sexting will diminish over time. Today’s kids are not stupid and, faced with the facts, most will wise up. It is also important to realize that kids who get in trouble online are the same kids who get in trouble offline, so when teens repeatedly do sexting or other stupid or risky things online, it’s critical to intervene early and often.