For Teens, Sexting Can Be a Crime
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Child pornography is defined by the U.S. Department of Justice as any sexually explicit visual depiction involving a person under 18. It is a felony under federal and state law to produce, distribute, receive or possess such images. Usually we think of child pornographers as adults who take advantage of children, but in fact, they are often adolescents themselves. That’s because child pornography crimes are based on the age of the subject, regardless of the age or identity of the person who takes, distributes, receives or possesses it. As a result, a teenager may be guilty of child pornography crimes if they possess an image sent by a classmate their own age, or if they take or send naked photos of themselves.
Pennsylvania is one of approximately 25 states that have reduced penalties for child pornography crimes when they involve consensual acts between minors. Even in those states, however, investigations are conducted by the police and may lead to criminal charges. In Ohio in 2018, a 13-year-old boy and 12-year old girl were charged with felonies in connection with a sexually-explicit video; they pled guilty to misdemeanors and were sentenced to community service and internet safety education. In Iowa the same year, seven students, including a 13-year-old, faced felony charges for sexting. They were fortunate that the judge didn’t require their names to be listed on the sex-offender registry.
According to a 2019 study by the parenting app Jiminy, 60% of sexting—sending sexually explicit photos or messages via cell phones—by children ages 10-17 is mutual. The study, which examined 54 million texts, also found that young people are sexting earlier than ever before. An estimated one in ten are exposed to a sexually explicit message by age 8. By age 13, 24% of children have been asked to send nude photos or have requested them from others. That means nearly a quarter of all 13-year-olds have been asked to participate in what the law considers child pornography. According to a 2019 article in the Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the frequency of sexting is the same for boys and girls.
According to Dr. Cherie Gerstadt, a specialist in child and adolescent psychology at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, there are two age-appropriate conversations to have with very young children about sexting. One is a discussion of body boundaries—the idea that your body belongs to you and you have private parts that others should not touch or photograph. The second is to explain that once a child sends a photo, it becomes public. Parents should ask children to consider whether they would want the whole school to see the picture they are thinking of sending. As children age, the conversations should become more explicit about the harm of sending nude photos.
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Even as they discuss the seriousness of sending inappropriate photos, parents should make sure their children know that the lines of communication will remain open no matter what. If a child fears that she has made a mistake, she should feel safe coming to a parent to talk about it. The fallout from sexting can be devastating, and parents who are concerned about their child’s mental health in the wake of an incident should seek professional advice about dealing with it.
Parents who search their children’s phones often miss harmless-looking apps that are designed to hide pictures. The Calculator+ app, for example, has an icon that looks like a calculator, but it is designed, according to its tagline in the Apple app store, to “hide your secret.” Parents who look through a child’s phone and are surprised to find a password-protected app should ask why it’s locked and what’s stored there.
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https://www.wsj.com/articles/for-teens-sexting-can-be-a-crime-11605801722 (subscription)
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