Two Lacey teens arrested in sexting case, article.
What worries me is that it seems that in areas with much emotional turmoil, people in general loose their intellectual faculties to a degree which allows the definitions of common terms to simply shift with hardly anybody noticing. It is clear that these days, "engaged in sexually explicit conduct" has been redefined to mean "nude". This is a big problem for many reasons.
It's also worrying that playful behavior by young teens is being lumped in with serious predatory behavior by adults. It's a very bad example of the lack of ability to differentiate.
This mental confusion also means that if a 16- year-old girl has a photo of her 16-year-old boyfriend nude, she is apparently now in "possession of child pornography" and may go to jail and be in a sex-offenders register for the rest of her life. It's really not a sane state of affairs.
I read this and now I'm depressed. I mean the girl took the picture of herself in a mirror an most likely gave it to her (then) boyfriend. Now they're in jail. God help us...
ReplyDeleteI know. The worst part is how the authorities keep harping on about how the youth needs to understand that "this is a very serious crime!!".
ReplyDeleteIt really is not!
Yeah, not "serious" and certainly shouldn't be a "crime". Ridiculous anti-sexual ninnies.
ReplyDeleteGuys, I think you´re overlooking one detail here: a girl took the pic of herself, sent it to her BF, then they broke up, and then the little bastard started sending the photo pretty much to everyone, starting with his new gal. There IS a victim in the present case. These things CAN mark someone for life.
ReplyDeleteI saw recently a documentary about how such photos or shared videos of an intimate nature can quickly end up on porn sites, and pretty much remain displayed on the internet forever. INCLUDING on some paedo sites who, lo and behold, feel no shame at the idea of scavenging...
If, and I do mean IF, the police here are acting with great severity to set an example in order to prevent more naive teens from becoming victims and marked for life (we all know how a "rep" can stick to you), then it´s a lesser evil perhaps. Awareness both from potential future victims, and a warning to those who would ruin a person´s life by spreading intimate pictures.
At some point, teenagers must learn responsibility for their actions in this communications age, just like with driving a car.
Whether the response is out of proportion, or the gratuitous hysteria very real, is another part of the debate, but I invite you to broaden your perspective when looking at this specific story.
At the very least, the resulting high publicity is a good thing.
"Young people, if your lover insists on having nude or sexual images of you, maybe you shouldn´t trust them too much."
I mean, it´s far more personal and sensitive material to share than your e-mail address, and few of us would post their private one for the whole world to know. Spammers are swarming, and predators of juvies lurk in pretty much every teen forum. Again, I´ve seen documentaries. You´d be amazed, and terrified, at how promptly an undercover cop posing as a naive teen -of any gender- will spontaneously receive "invitations" that smell of brimstone.
The result for the actual victim here is little different psychologically from a rape. Especially at this young age. Scars for life can require nothing more.
Just some P-04 perspective as the Devil´s advocate...
"and then the little bastard started sending the photo pretty much to everyone"
ReplyDeleteOK, fair enough, but he was not convicted of being an asshole. They were both convicted, and would have been equally guilty if he had never sent them on, if the pics had just been seen by accident.
So, the girl was victimized first by her ex, and then by the government. How does that "protect" her? Just trying to wrap my brain around this.
ReplyDeleteI really think people need to just get over the puritanistic attitudes about sex and nudity. I think society is damaging young people by making them ashamed of their bodies and sexuality. After all, the only "consequences" here are social consequences caused by people who have unhealthy attitudes about nude pictures.
I believe the girl victimized by her ex isn't mentioned to have been prosecuted, it was his *new* GF.
ReplyDeleteOf course, for the rest, your points are hard to shake. Alas.
"Just trying to wrap my brain around this."
Dude, if you've got a rubber-jointed brain, or even a jointed brain for that matter, I know a few biologists who would give one kidney for the privilege of studying you! ;-)
But, to be perfectly honest, I've given up any hopes of seeing my fellow countrymen here in Lebanon evolve to common sense in MY lifetime.
In their own way, anglo-saxon societies are just as frozen-petrified.
Whether we're talking about the cultural quirks of teenagers or lawmakers makes little difference!!!
We can't change the whole world all of a sudden. But what we CAN do, is change a few people a little bit, by talking and sharing ideas. This I never give up. Well, never completely.
:-/