by KCWriteWinger

Created on: September 01, 2009

You give a kid a cell phone to carry with them so you the parent can keep in touch with them, and keep track of them, and the next thing you know, the school calls and your kid just got busted 'sexting' at school. What is 'sexting' you ask? Well, it is sending x-rated messages and pictures over cell phones to another person, it's the newest rage among teens these day's.

The question being posed here is "should teens face criminal charges for sending X-rated photo's on their cell phones?"

Cell phones today are nothing short of mini computers. You take pictures with them, you listen to music on them, you can also play video games on them, they are amazing little gadgets that's for sure. More and more teens are carrying them today, with their parents blessing of course, and some schools are restricting their use inside the school during school hours.

Seeing they are basically computers, It is my opinion that the same laws apply to cell phones, that apply to home computers, or laptops. Sending naughty pictures is illegal in most states, people have had their homes raided by law enforcement for sending nude pics of themselves, or someone else, or posting them somewhere online.

The police will take your computer, and you will be prosecuted if you send pics like that to minors, or across state lines, so why should cell phones be any different? It is no surprise what their dirty little minds will come up with if they are given enough room to figure out how to do it.

Schools are now cracking down on sexting, and in some states teens are being charged with distributing child porn, just like if they did it from their home computer. Certain states are enacting laws to make it illegal to transmit nude images via your cell phone. Although in liberal Vermont, they are looking to legalize sexting, only in Vermont I tell you, only in Vermont!

What I want to know is, where are the parents in all of this why their kid is taking naked pictures of themselves with their cell phone, and sending out to their friends for a laugh? Are the parents even aware of what their kid is doing, or is their head stuck somewhere, where the sun isn't shining?

Maybe we need to launch a new public awareness project "Text Responsibly!" or "If you get caught sexting in school, you will be busted, you will loose your phone!"

Should teens be sent up river, to the big house for sexting? NO! Just take away their phone for good, and give them some community service of some kind. Make sure the parents are including in the mix here, they should be the ones to take away the cell phone, and don't forget to cancel the service, cause teens are resourceful, and could potentially go out and get a new phone without the parents knowledge.

Anyway you slice the pie, what these teens are doing is wrong, it violates the law of the land, and maybe there ought to be a penalty of some kind if they should get caught, SEXTING!

Learn more about this author, KCWriteWinger.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.