Is Your Child Safe from the Law?
Children and Teens Caught with Pornography or Sexting May Be Labeled as a Sex Offender
The fact is that many teens have faced the judge because they were caught sexting (having explicit sexual text conversations) with other teens. It does not matter that they are both participating. The text is the only thing that matters. In 2009, three Pennsylvania boys were charged with having child pornography on their cell phones when three young girls made a video and sent it to them. The girls were charged with creating it, and even though the boys had never asked it to be sent to them, they were still charged.
A study conducted just a short time ago by Pew Research Center found that as many as 15% of the teenagers in the study had received pornographic images on their cell phone. A study done by CosmoGirl and the National Campaign to Prevent Pregnancy revealed that as many as 20% of teens have been involved with sexting.
Does this mean you should take all technology away from your teenager? Absolutely not. However, it does add more responsibility to you as a parent. Your children depend on you to educate them on what is right and what is wrong. This is a topic that can not be ignored any longer, as many teens are finding out what it will be like to live the rest of their lives on the sex offender's registry.
The only way to make your children understand what can happen is to talk with them. It is sad to think that a prank could label your child as a sex offender, but it has happened and, if your child is participating in sexting or sending pornographic pictures over their cell phone, it could happen to them, as well. Be clear when talking to your teen about this problem. Do some research online and find the facts. Show them the details of what happened to the six teenagers in Pennsylvania who were charged with creating and receiving child pornography. Maybe then, they will understand just how serious they should take the data on their cell phones.
Sources:
National Campaign to Prevent Pregnancy, http://www.thenationalcampaign.org/sextech/PDF/SexTech_Summary.pdf
The Pew Research Center, http://www.pewresearch.org
Published by Penny Harmon
Penny Harmon is a freelance writer living in Maine. She specializes in writing web content to help bring more traffic to your site. She currently writes for several clients, as well as Discover Maine Magaz... View profile
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