The very definition of ASININE
March 4, 2010
Sometimes I come across articles that I simply have to share with everyone. This is one such story. In short, an 8th grade girl decided to text a naughty picture of herself to an 8th grade boy, who then sent it to a few of his friends. The school is punishing them (it being a private school), and (hopefully) their parents are having some stern discussions with them as well. However, it’s the last line of the article that really just defines ASININE:
The Atlanta Police Department’s Child Exploitation Unit is reviewing the case for possible prosecution. The act of “sexting” could result in all the students facing misdemeanor charges of possession of child pornography or felony charges of solicitation and corruption of a minor.
Now, I know those laws are out there to keep creepy 40 year perverts away from children. But seriously, is there no common sense here? These children could be charged with a misdemeanor for having naked pictures… of themselves? They could face Felony charges for corrupting… themselves? Does this make sense to anyone else?
The fact of the matter is that all of these child pornography/solicitation/corruption laws are there to prevent one age group (the 40 year old perverts) from taking advantage of another (the under 18 innocent children). This is a good thing. However, kids today are not nearly as innocent as their parents may want to believe, and it’s time the laws recognize this.
Teenagers have sex. They do drugs. They drink. And you know what? They should face consequences for their actions. If they break the law by drinking underage, they should be punished accordingly. Same for drugs. But if one teenager sleeps with their boyfriend/girlfriend, please tell me how that consists of statutory rape? If they send naked photos to their crush, why should that be child pornography? Is it stupid? Of course! Should they face felony charges? Yeah, not so much…
These laws were written for a specific purpose; it’s time they were revisited.
