Posted: 6/19/2011 12:56:24 PM EDT
Yeah, I'm sorry for the last one. That was a late night brain fart.  It shall not happen again!
I think I had left a 'new topic' window open and when I got back to it had forgotten my original question. Well, here is the original question: Earlier in the night (when there was some drinking), my friends and I got on the topic of sexting (sending sexually explicit texts or pictures over mobile devices or email). We got to telling stories of interesting instances we had had or heard of. One guy brings up a girl a few of us knew in high school. He gave a quick synopsis and we laughed and asked how he had run into her since school. He responds that it was while we were in high school. He said if we had had nicer cell phones back then he probably would have sent them to us. A few guys laughed and I started to, but realized... sounds just like a few case studies. I told him that he would have been in danger of being charged with possession and distribution of child pornography. He laughed and dismissed it saying he was underage... I did my best to explain it to them but they changed the subject shortly after. I got to thinking while still pretty buzzed and wondered if I knew the laws were like that when I was in school. To be honest, that it was illegal would have never crossed my mind. Maybe get in trouble with parents, but not authorities. Then I wondered if my nieces and nephews know that it is illegal. Granted, they are pretty young and don't have phones, but that will change in just a few years. At some point I opened the new topic window and forgot about it. So my question to the open public forum (again, ) is, do any of y'all know of programs in schools, local agencies, or anything of the like that gives talks about this to kids? I mean, an annual school assembly from junior high up to high school would probably be a good idea (keeping the assembly down to like, 100 kids at a time.) Let a couple of professionals give a short but informational talk. Maybe a detective that handles sex crimes, a judge or attorney that handles the court proceedings, and/or maybe a psychologist from the Victims Institute?
Just seems like there is a lot of misinformation out there that could get kids in serious trouble. I'm pretty sure had I heard the facts from a reliable source, I would have been deterred from stuff like that while underage. Okay, well, I might have received it from a girlfriend, I mean... hormones and all... but I don't think I'd have shared it knowing I could get in serious trouble. |