It could be a stint in state or federal prison along with a sex offender tag if you are not careful. What images are stored on your child’s cell phone? It may be more than you think. It may be a lot “less” than you think. This month in Greensburg, Pa., three high school girls who sent seminude photos and four male students who received them were all hit with felony child pornography charges. This may seem excessive and more like harmless “child’s play” but before the parent of these teens or any child caught up in this situation start screaming about the propriety of the charges they would be wise to tread lightly and remember that in a criminal courtroom the only good fight is one that ends in a not-guilty. If you doubt me head on down to Georgia and speak with Genarlow Wilson. In his case teen sex at a party turned into a statutory rape conviction with a sex offender tag and mandatory 10 year prison sentence. He was 17 and the girl was 15. His conviction was eventually overturned by the Georgia Supreme Court but not before he spent two years of the 10 behind bars. A young life changed forever after what was really nothing more than poor teen judgment.
Texting has become so ingrained within the “play zone” between generations Y and Z that an almost complete disconnect has evolved between act of hitting send and content being transmitted and stored on the other end when it comes to our cell phones. In the teen mind if it is transmitted by cell phone it “isn’t real” and not covered by any definition of moral responsibility or man made law much the same way a dollar bill in Las Vegas loses all context when converted into a gaming chip. Much the same way two consenting teens hook up for a quickie at a high school house party. Judgment that is flawed as a pure matter of age becomes even more so with consequences never envisioned until an indictment is handed down and a jury says guilty. You may cry foul and exclaim that the images were not obscene. You may argue that this was not the intent of child pornography laws. You may go on Bill O”Reilly and rant that the laws your child is being prosecuted under laws meant to deter pedophiles and perverts and instead are being used “in loco parentis” when punishment for such indiscretions should be left to the parents. You may very well be doing all these things as the process takes on a life of its own. You may be doing these things as your child is indicted, convicted and his/her appeal winds its way slowly through the justice system while he serves his mandatory minimum sentence at the nearest state or federal penitentiary with real perverts and child molesters or at some “gladiator” juvenile facility.
Moral of story? Have the talk…
©2009 Brian Cuban
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February 7th, 2009 at 5:54 pm
Making teens aware of the law, it's punishment, and the chances of being caught is one part of a parent education responsibility. Another part of it is knowing that the boy or girl can choose to break the law and will have to pay the price, no matter how well the parent taught them.
February 7th, 2009 at 8:41 pm
Unfortunately, in today's virtual society, teens are subjected to the entire world; literally. I am always shocked by photos and posts by my daughter's teenage friends. I can't believe that if their parents had access to their accounts that any of these would be available for viewing. I admit that I regularly check my daughter's digital camera for photos that may be questionable, and I have access to her myspace account. As a condition of being a member of social sites, I must have have access to her account. I realize I can't be with her 24/7 so I not only have "the talk" with her, but I monitor her activities so that I can offer my advice, or cut off the actions all together. I am not her favorite person right now… but she'll appreciate it later: I hope.
February 8th, 2009 at 1:00 am
My teens and I had this talk months ago; but its good to have a reminder.
March 10th, 2009 at 7:50 pm
That seems a bit overboard though doesn't it? Should she be able to learn from her own mistakes? Also, what does that tell her about the amount of trust you place in her when every second your checking up on all of her activities? Wouldn't it be better if she learned to behave not out of fear of you seeing it and punishing her, but through actual morals and values instilled?
May 8th, 2009 at 9:02 am
Aswell as making her hate the justice system this will also be a massive blow to her confidence in what most things people would call normal. Yet another failing of your society. This should be handled by the family instead of spending all those resources on this and mentally scaring someone.
June 1st, 2009 at 8:33 am
Agreed, you would think since they have so much free time now they have caught all the murderers and terrorists, they could spend their time doing something better? If you make a big deal out of something little, you often end up making it bigger later then wonder why things got so bad.
July 8th, 2009 at 2:37 pm
I have so much free time when I was young but since i'm working now it almost impossible to find some free time