on one hand, it is essentially child porn

in my right hand, which is my dominant one, let us do our stupid crap. if you get into hot water for it, then you've learned. don't make it criminal, because kids who are just goofing off at a party dont want to end up in jail

Seriously, the government shoulden't have to be worrying about the actions of a child who messed up and has stupid, ignorant parents who don't even know how to take care of their children, I believe that people should be fined and they should have their texting service temporarily banned in consequences, I see no reason in filling jails with people who sent suggestive pictures of themselves to others, when we have murderers probably running around scot-free.
The "teenagers" that do this should be punished for their actions and should take full responsibillity for their foolish actions, this is something that should be dealt with easily, instead of making a law that people will only ignore and break.

I believe it shouldn't be illegal.

We should all be able to do whatever we want with our phones.

Unless the law inforcement officers are paying my bill, I should be able to send all the naked pictures I want, which is something I don't do, but if I wanted to I would, even if it is illegal.

My phone, my rules.

A teenager that takes a racy picture of themselves should not be put in the same category as someone who molests little kids. End of story.

Is it stupid? Yes.
Should it be illegal? No.

okay on the other hand it should be legal to adults.as long as they are not sending them to minors!it os a bad influence on
minors if they are geting them!it can also ruin there self-esteam.
take it from me.

leagal??heck no!!its gross!and sometime racy.next time i think about texting,iam gonna ask my mom to cancel my unlimeted texting plan!!
FOR GOOD!!!!thats what i would do if i had a child that was caught sexting!you guys should too if you guys have kids that have cell phones that have texting.

ABSOULUTLEY! its very unsafe. once you pass it on anybody can see it. thats all i have to say about it.

Illegal? no.. The first line of defense is parents educating children- we are their first & most influential teachers. You have to give kids the info they need about the technology you allow them to use when they are young. Warning them about the consequences of inappropriate behavior is so important. But I do think that phone companies should help parents with monitoring our kids. We've been able to monitor phone calls for years- it's time to catch up with the times. It should be our right to see the account activity for what we own. Things can be deleted from phones so easily that it doesn't make sense to check kids phones at the end of the day.

I think phone companies should create an online text monitoring system that records every incoming and outgoing txt & photo from each phone on the account. In the process of sending those messages, they should be able to easily record them into a data base that is password protected by the account user. I wish I were smart enough create this system myself. That way, you can inform your kids of the dangers & consequences of sexting AND tell them you'll be keeping an eye on things. (I realize there are a lot of other ways- facebook, etc. that sexting can be a danger... that's why communication is of most importance.)

my kids can keep there phones but i dont allow texting

Which one of us have not heard the tales of potential employers going online to check your online life. Shoud it be illegal? no, but if you tell your children that in 5 years or so when they are looking for a job that their online history can come back to haunt them might be the deterrant they need.

I agree with this being legal. Personally, I wouldn't do this because not only morals, but religion gets in the way. But teens should have some freedom to choose if they want to "sext" or not. It should be their decision, not the laws. If only 22% of them admit to doing it, that probably means around 30% actually do. Not ALL kids do. We do need SOME freedoms to make on our own. But I'm not disagreeing with getting trouble. Just not THAT much trouble. I agree COMPLETELY with LNA Walters:

"As a parent to small children, I want to know sex offenders who live around me who are a danger to my children. Teens guilty of sexting lack maturity, education, parents who care enough to oversee, whatever...but they're not a danger to my children.
It should be illegal, but they shouldn't be caught in the net of sex offender. That's just silly."

Nope. It should be allowed. I really don't see what's wrong with it. Like I said in another article, all it takes for kids to see people naked is a party and lots of alcohol. And all that sexting does is let kids know how other look like naked. Me and my friends find out what junior girls at our high school look like naked so we can decide if we wanna hook up with them or not. Wanting to have sex at my age is a natural thing. I was even thinking about it 5 years ago when i was in 6th grade. Besides i hear stories all the time from my dad and my grandma about all the naked pictures of girls that my dad had back in the 70's. So naked pictures have been goin around for a long time.

Quite honestly I don't think that it should be illegal. I hope that no one gets mad at me for this. Yes I think it is immoral, but I think lots of things are immoral that people do, but I don't think they should be illegal. It isn't illegal for teens to have sex (under certain circumstances) and they know that. So if they can't do it on phones, some teenagers will have sex in real life. I think that parents should watch over and punish their teens who do "sext". I just hope that both adults(yes, adults) and teens will stop it, because it is wrong.

It should be totally illegal! And, I guess, "Healing", I'm not an average 14-year-old! I guess I have morals!

you people really have issues. No offense, every generation of parents doesn't. You don't monitor your kids, you don't teach your kids self-respect, you don't do anything and you want "the government" to solve your problems. Then there are the people that rule with an iron fist, denying their kids anything, making them social outcasts and then sending them off into the world to become school shooters and rapists because that's the way they know how to release their anger and sexuality. Way to go america. Stop for a second and remember those times when you were young, listening to eighties hair metal, talking about boys/girls, and wondering about your first kiss and time you had sex. Nowadays instead of hiding that, more parents are seeing that their kids do this and think it is the most horrible vile thing in the world. your telling me you never watched a dirty movie. you never saw tits before you were eighteen? you think that for that one stupid thing you did your life should be ruined and be labeled something your not. Well, be my guest. Let's slowly go backwards instead of understanding how more open sexuality and sex ed leads to SAFER sex and less rape.

Kids who text are not immoral at all. We have raised a generation or 2 of children who were never given any moral limits.

In general children are not raise anymore..we just want them happy.

This is probably the worst generation of clueless parents in history.

If Parents knew that their 14 year old daughters were depressed,self harming cutting and usually naked we would be surprised. I tell clueless parents see your childs myspace or facebook pictures! It is COMMON for girls today to have nude pics on the internet
Ever wonder why it is hard to find a pagent winner without someone finding a nude picture later? Because the average 14 year old is nude on the internet
Parents are clueless and working to make money as the
kids often hate the parent.

This may sound harsh but it is often true. I see so many kids on antidepressants and suicidal..we try to give them self healing of depression http://scribd.com/doc/15509120/Best-Cure-for-Depression-PDF
http://suiciderateup.wordpress.com

It is a sad world

I don't think kids should be registered as sex offenders. I mean, they're just teens. I do think, however, that kids who get caught should be punished in a less extream form, like doing community service and getting there phone taken away (or get a new one that can't do anything but call people. that means no texting and no photos.) plus, won't the kids also be punished be people at school staring at them and calling them names?

I don't think kids should be registered as sex offenders. I mean, they're just teens. I do think, however, that kids who get caught should be punished in a less extream form, like doing community service and getting there phone taken away (or get a new one that can't do anything but call people. that means no texting and no photos.) plus, won't the kids also be punished be people at school staring at them and calling them names?

Honestly this shouldn't be a problom. PARENTS need to take away there childs phone if they are not mature enough OR IF THEY ARE STUPID ENOUGH TO SEXT. This is crazy people just need to know there children if they arn't trustworthy don't give them a PHONE!!!!!!

In most cases, yes it should be illegal. There was a girl who took a nude photo of herself to send to her boyfriend and the photo leaked and began circulating through FOUR schools! People made fun of her so much she eventually hanged herself. And that's happened many times too. If it circulates like the last story, that photo might be reaching the phones of kids! If your a teen like me, you would probably just think it's wrong or something, but a little kid should not be seeing those kinds of things. And alot of sexting cases have ended in tragedy when they had their whole life ahead of them! this SHOULD be illegal!!!

First off to goingcrazy, I really doubt that the cell phone companies would allow a law that banned texting for those under 18 because that would make them lose a lot of money. Also (according to various surveys I've seen) the highest percentage of teens sexting is 30%. Which is obviously less than half. You might also want to know that cell phone calls will end up costing more than texting. Letters also cost money (stamps) and nowadays are too slow for teenage communication.

Zenithon, I think that you are suggesting law enforced spyware. Which to me says that if you are under 18 you aren't a person and need to be tracked like a dog. Maybe that isn't what you meant but that's what I took from it. Also controlling everything your teen does would just cause them to go wild once they hit college.

As for this sex offender madness, that is just crazy. Either the list will become meaningless or their lives will be ruined forever over something stupid. Also I don't think it's a good message to tell society that sending a picture of yourself and harming a young child are the same thing.

Also what about teens who receive a sexual message without their consent and don't know who it's from? Granted, the correct thing to do would be to delete it however that can not always be done right away. At times I get a new message and don't have time to see what it is or who it's from (mostly during class). If it was someone sending a sext message I wouldn't know. Should I be arrested for something I didn't know I had and couldn't stop myself from receiving?

Did you know that in the state of California if you're under 18 it is illegal for you to have sex? Is that law enforced? Of course not, and it would be a waste of time, energy, tax dollars, and police skills trying. A sexting law would only catch the stupid.

I really don't think sexting should be illegal. Yes, it can ruin lives but that person was a willing participant. They were taking a risk. If they were forced then that would be a different story. Sexting will probably go out of style in a few years anyway.

To quote C.S. Lewis, "Now suppose you come to a country where you could fill a theatre by simply bringing a covered plate on to the stage and then slowly lifting the cover so as to let everyone see, just before the lights went out, that it contained a mutton chop or a bit of bacon, would you not think that in that country something had gone wrong with the appetite for food?"

I have a teenage daughter. I am concerned with the increased peer pressure to "tease" boys sexually at younger and younger ages. In this discussion, what seems lacking is the debate on respect - self-respect that is lacking in girls thinking they need to undress to impress; boys lacking respect for girls because they've not been taught to see girls as valuable persons; girls lacking respect for boys by toying with their weakness for visual stimuli; the list goes on. The ultimate disrespect, I feel, would be to punish a person who received UNSOLICITED sexting as a sex offender. As others have stated, how does one enforce such a law and prove INTENT to harm (bully, coerce, etc.). It could easily become a "he said/she said" argument for who initiated the sexting session (who took pictures, encouraged the posed, etc.).

I do not feel the punishment of a permanent record of "sex offender" is warranted by this offense. I agree with other posters - the sex offender list should tell me who is a threat to my family. Irresponsible youth behavior is not the same thing. And removing technology would not address the one issue - lack of respect.

i think "sexting" should be illegal... if kids are old enough to engage in sexual intercourse or any other type of sexual pleasure, then they are old to enough to pay the consequences for "sexting"... its basically the same as when pornography is posted and all that kind of stuff... just cuz the fact that they are minors doesnt make it ok to do things like that and expect to get away with it...

SEX OFFENDER!!? this is retarded! only people who don't like it call it "sexting"! leave your kids alone! it's just harmless fun!

I don't understand the posts that say "sexting" should not be illegal. There definately needs to be
some serious punishments/consequence for those who do "sexting".

Have any of the contributors thought about the person in the picture? What will happen if this minor has a picture taken in "fun" and later decides on a career where this picture could end their career before it starts? What if the picture was taken w/out their knowledge or consent. (I.E. school locker room) This is bullying/harrassment at it's greatest form. The child has no control over what is seen and who sees it. For a teen/preteen this picture will be seen as the greatest embarrassment of their short life.

True a parent cannot "police" their children 24 hrs a day. So, the person taking pictures for "sexting" needs to take responsiblity for their actions (their parents need to take responsibility too).

I agree that cell phones are good tools when used properly. If a parent gives a child a cell phone (esp. one with a camera) the "rules" need to be gone over before the child is set loose with this possible dangerous tool.

I do not believe that we should make laws that are unenforceable for the most part. I think it is more important for parents to take authority and know what their children are doing. Parents are able to disable texting from their children's phones.

I do not feel that a child should have a criminal record that could haunt them for a lifetime because of a stupid mistake that was made in their childhood years. I would think that most children involved in "sexting" were coerced by somebody. I think as parents we need to educate our children about how to take care of ourselves.

I don't think it's necessarily wise to take cell phones out of the hands of children. For one, when I was growing up in the 80s & 90s we had pay phones around where we could call our parents if we needed to. These days pay phones seem to have gone the way of the dinosaurs. I was surprised to see one at Busch Gardens yesterday.

wow some one i think flaged me
well ok then i will make it nicer.
we are entering a new stage of technolige
ok?
like to goingcrazy yes kids back then did not know of texting but tell me we lived with out computers and tv and things like that can you survive with out it. did not think so.
i will agree that parets should be concern about there child or teen. is a parent thing and yes to who ever said that teens to day mostly think about sex and yes a lot of people are scard of STD or HIV or AIDS and things like that. but we are entering a thing of life. remeber in the 80's where rock and metal bands made songs about sex and thing like that and then a group of parents called the pmrc tryed to bleep out bad words but dee snider said we are not going to ( not going to say the word he said on tv) take it. well that the age we are in exsepe for sexting cyeperbulling ( in my opioen cyeper bulling is kinda stuped ok i am not going in to detale but yes) well now i rest my case. for now

In reference to mvarrin's comment.

THANK YOU! That's another point I should have made.

People, start taking responsibility for your own damn kids. Stop dumping all this BS on the law and expect them to do your parenting for you.

It's so great to see the varied opinions on this board. This is a topic that has gotten a lot of ink in the press lately, but I love seeing real parents that are dealing with this in real time actually getting into a conversation about it.

What I'd love to see is people separating the act (sexting) from the tool (cell phones and text messages).

Cell phones, text messages, IM, Facebook, digital cameras...none of these tools are inherently "bad" or without potential for great, fun, useful activities. I text all the time for all of those little "I'm on my way" or "I stopped for milk" messages that don't warrant a phone call or worse -- voicemail message which doubles the time that both people have to spend leaving or listening to a message which could take 10 seconds to send.

I also send my husband a note during the day "Thinking of you" or I'll send him a picture of something that I see during the day that makes me think of him. It helps us feel connected during our long work days, and he can get the message whenever he happens to check his phone.

Taking away these tools isn't the answer to changing kids' behavior. Teaching them that whatever is put out into the world is instantly out of their control is the lesson here. Sadly, digital media is changing the nature of trust -- we can't trust that the friend that takes the picture of us smoking or drinking at a party isn't going to put that picture up on Facebook. We have to make sure that picture doesn't get taken in the first place.

Similarly, morality aside, kids need to learn that intimate moments are NOT safe to share over technology. Period. Every single time they send a message, post something anywhere, or share something virtually, they HAVE to learn to ask themselves "is this something that I'd want my grandmother/homeroom teacher/parent/boss to see?" Because that's the reality today.

As for kids that get busted for doing something stupid being forever marked as a sex offender? That idea is so completely ludicrous that I can't believe it's even up for conversation. "LNAWalters" said it best: that registry should show me people who pose a threat to my children, and that's not the case with sexting.

The problem with not making it illegal is that then there is no line to drawn in the sand. What happens when an 18 year old in high school gets a sexting? What about an 18 year old out of high school. What happens when a 17 year old that gets a sexting, forwards it to all of his friends, and maybe his 20 year old brother in college? While it may not be appropriate to label these kids as sex offenders, shouldn’t there be some deterrent from society to not allow this kind of behavior? While it might sound easy to say the parents should be responsible to teach there kids good behavior, how can a parent stop some other kid from sending their kid inappropriate messages? Parents do not have the tools to deal with this issue. Maybe a law should be passed so that any phone or email account used by someone under 18, must have all incoming and outgoing messages sent to a guardians email address. If this was the case and there were a law that had some teeth to it to stop sexting and cyber bulling, I think kids might just start behaving a little more civil.

I can't believe anyone would compare TEXTING, and SEXTING, to anesthesia.... way out of proportion with comparision here... Sure, texting isn't bad. Sexting is... who really NEEDS to do that? Please.
Texting is out of control... and should not be allowed in classrooms at all. And I plan to monitor my kids VERY VERY Closely. That is a parent's responsibility to know to the best of their ability, what their kids are doing. You will never know it all, but you need to have a good relationship with your kids and make a freaking good effort. Parents are too lazy these days and are letting popular culture and technology/the internet raise their kids. That is sad. We will reap what we sow for sure. Desensitized kids who expect immidiate gratificiation at all times.

Parents need to stop allowing trend culture and the internet/technology raise their kids and babysit/entertain their kids without their ACTIVE involvement and monitoring. Its inappropriate for these kids to think its okay to take pictures of themselves this way. They should be taught to have more respect and value of themselves. Once its out there, its free game to the infinite public eye and can hurt them or come back to haunt them in later years. I would be appalled if my children did this and plan on limiting their access to such devices and monitoring them closely. Not in a Nazi way but in an open communication way. Parents need to raise their own kids with effort and responsibility. And if another parent sees a friends' child doing something, they need to tell the parents of that child.
I think "sexting" is inappropriate regardless of age, and just shows the lack of propriety our society has as well as the disgusting immaturity and lack of self control.

The easy answer may be to make it illegal for a minor to have a camera phone they dont need anything other than a basic cell phone.

If you have posession of a nude picture of a minor it is illegal. So if we decide to decriminalize sexting, where is the limit? If a 12 year old girl sends it to a 17 year old it's ok, but not if the guy is 18? We need to leave the child porn laws in place.

Those who responded that anything pertaining to nudity is not sexual are fools! Our kids are sex-obsessed and so is the media. There is not one nude or sex scene in movies or texts like this that are not meant for exitement.

Well should this be illegal? First, we'd need to examine things that ARE sex offenses for anyone BUT singers and actors. Rap singers deliver hardcore sexual messages to children all the time, but a common citizen is not allowed to say anything sexually explicit or stimulating to our children. Actors flash their bodies, even their penises in movies, and have long, extremely graphic sex scenes in movies that should be NOTHING but rated X, especially with their non stop vulgar sex references. People are arrested for brief nudity in the house in front of children.

So, the issue should be what are sex crimes for ANYONE....media stars should not be allowed to do what is clearly a sex crime for someone else.

And perhaps if double standards were all dropped, pornography would remain at just that level, at all times, and not legalized for children because some morons believe that it is free speech that only the media can have.

At that point, it would make sense that no child would be allowed to produce child pornography. But if it is sent only to another child, would this be any worse than childhood experimentation in person?

Parents ultimately need to teach good boundaries. But most parents are utter hypocrites, as they allow the kids to see and hear things that amount to rap singers and actors sexualizing them. Therefore, the boundaries are gone even when the parents act like there are some. And the few decent ones that are left and don't expose their kids to this are fighting a losing battle. All they can hope for is that the children see sexuality in it's proper context, and that when they hear vulgar stuff from others, there is no mystery, as they are well-educated.

Well, most of you have insisted on a world that only sexualizes children in it's media but makes it a crime elsewhere. I have to wonder if you all really believe that crimes against children are wrong. I've not compromised on entertainment. If John Wayne did not have it in his films, my family and I don't need it.

Neither does anyone else. All because people are sex obsessed as much as they are vulgar and sadistic.

We, as adults, know that teens are still developing thier social skills and awareness of things that are appropriate or not. Our job as parents and educators is to help them make the good choices.
With that in mind, children should be taught early on the reality of the Internet and life. Relationships come and go, but things on the Internet are forever. Colleges, grad schools and future employers will scan FaceBook, MySpace, and other social networking sites and search on names. That "cute" picture that only the girlfriend/boyfriend was suppose to see could keep you out of a school or job - even years later.
Should teen who are sexting be labeled as sex offenders - NO. They should be charged with a misdemeanor and required to attend a class on Internet safety and the reprecussions of what they have been doing. Community service wouldn't hutr either. They have already endangered their future. We shouldn't double the penalty.

I haven't noticed anyone saying it is OK for their kids to sext. Everyone has said it is wrong. What they are saying is they should not be charged with being a Sex Offender.

If we make sexting illegal, where do we draw the line? What about IMing? Is every word or image we exchange going to be policed? I don't like the idea that every single thing we do is subject to criminal prosecution, and I am concerned about where it will stop. Are we prepared to ruin young lives based on stupid behavior? If we are, then we all should be punished. While I don't think children sexting is acceptable behavior, I certainly don't think it merits potentially naming an entire generation as sex offenders. Each generation does stupid things. But it is not the government's job to police our children. If your children aren't listening to you, that is your fault. Take responsibility for your own children for crying out loud!! Don't ask the legal system to do your job for you. Be involved in your children's lives. Take the phone away if they're abusing the privilege, and stop throwing up your hands in helplessness or asking someone else to punish your own child.
The idea that our teenagers would be named on the same list as pedophiles, rapists and murderers is beyond ridiculous, it's insane. Our society is so quick to react in such extremes. Where is the common sense and reason? Would you want to see your child's face next to a serial rapist's? Just take the phone away!

If kids' only goal is to "not get caught" sexting then they don't really learn anything. Parents need to step up and educate their children, not abdicate their responsibility in favor of the police.

If they start putting teenagers who are convicted of sexting on the sex offenders registry, that registry will become meaningless!

As a parent to small children, I want to know sex offenders who live around me who are a danger to my children. Teens guilty of sexting lack maturity, education, parents who care enough to oversee, whatever...but they're not a danger to my children.

It should be illegal, but they shouldn't be caught in the net of sex offender. That's just silly.

Absolutely. It should be illegal, and it shouldn't be tolerated at home even if it isn't illegal. If your daughter sent racy pics to her then-boyfriend, and later, after they break-up, he posts them to websites for every pedophile in the area to down-load, then wouldn't you agree that he is "peddling pornography"? You absolutely would. But if it's your own child doing it, then it shouldn't be illegal? Sounds like the "Not my child" syndrome. And it’s underage pornography at that. And that is a crime. If we change the laws for our children then we will have to change the laws for the criminals too. I am embarrased to see so many parents saying it is okay to send photos of themselves to their husbands, or their daughters to their boyfriends. Yes this america, and we do have certain freedoms, but freedom without laws is called anarchy and i doubt anyone wants to raise their children in a society such as that. And since when did being an american mean we forget our decency and forget how to protect our children from the predators that are out there? I joined this website because I expected to be with parents that had "common sense". Frankly I am embarrassed that parents that I thought were liked minded, would actually accept an underage daughter sending naked pictures of herself. I understand that children do have sex and all the parenting in the world can't stop it if they really want to do it, but would you let them do it on your bed, when you’re home, and with your permission? We need to protect our children, not be the cool parents and try to be their friends. Like underage drinking; that is illegal, yet plenty of parents let the kids drink if they are at home because "then they are safe". If we have no respect for the laws, how can we expect to raise children that respect the law? Isn't that what being a parent is all about?

I agree that the punishment of a teen doing something "really stupid" should not be punished the same as a true sex offender, but we have to be careful not to create a loophole for true sex offenders to get through. If the law is changed to say teens taking self portraits should be treated differently, a true violator would simply have the victims take pictures of themselves, or at least make the pictures look as though they were. This is a hot topic that is not going away any time soon.

No, of course sexting should NOT be illegal. These are kids frankly acting normal with technology that adults gave them. Is the behavior silly? Yes. Is it cimminal.. oh please. As parents we need to educate our children. To ruin a kids life with a record accomplishes nothing good. Our obession with nudity related to sex is also a problem. I don't think nude shots of anyone is wrong. The people who always relate nudity to sex are the ones that need some help. Having said that, sex related texting, be it normal in some cases, can lead to some stupid and sometimes dangerous behavior -- just like many acts, be it drinking, fighting, or just getting behine the wheel of a car sober. Bottom line, lets not keep it illegal. The humiliation they will have to bare will be great punishment in itself, so lets teach kids and adults what they could expect of such behavior. People could always talk sex.. is that illeagal too? I'm not sure how texting can be any worse. I would just take away the cameras on phones, and the chat rooms, OMG, no kid should be allowed to be in those places with all the predators out there. Thats a bigger concern for me! The solutions are quite simple actually. Giving kids crimminal records is a mistake!

It's called parenting, people!

what would be the purpose of registering sex offenders at all if one in five people in a certain age group would qualify? the fact that parents want it to stop doesn't mean that we can amp up the punishment to the point of insanity.

In my opinion yes its wrong for teens to sextect. Teens today it is so different all sex sex sex. So many diseases out there plus getting pregnant at at times the little babies pay the price. Young teen girls the dress up way to exposed come here where are the parents. Hell's no would I let my child go out half naked. Some people may find me old fashioned but that's ok I like it that way.

i ment to say morons not moronts

So American. No it shouldn't be illegal. Ridiculous. It's like legalizing drugs: the people using the drugs will do it whether or not it's legal, the kids having sex and engaging in sexual behavior will do it whether or not it's legal. What we need to protect our children from is crazy laws that harm them; what we most need to teach our children is to make good decisions. It's overused but it's true: morality can't be legislated.

I feel that sexting should be illegal in order to prevent it. However, I think it should be considered a misdemeanor and result in community service, a fine, or some other age appropriate consequence. I think there should be a consequence also for anyone who forwards on these kinds of images. Usually images that are sent do not end up on just one phone. They are generally passed from one person to another, until many people have seen them. I think everyone who passes it on should be culpable.