uh oh: Fundy head explosion imminent: Vermont Considers Legalizing Teen 'Sexting'

[cali]

Monday, April 13, 2009


MONTPELIER, Vt. — The Vermont Legislature is considering a bill that would legalize so-called "sexting" between teenagers.

Sexting refers to the exchange of explicit photos and videos via mobile phone. Under current laws, participants can be charged with child pornography, but lawmakers are considering a bill to legalize the consensual exchange of graphic images between two people 13 to 18 years old. Passing along such images to others would remain a crime.

Supporters told The Burlington Free Press they don't want to condone the behavior but they don't think teenagers should be prosecuted as sex offenders for consensual conduct.

The bill passed the state Senate earlier this month. The House Judiciary Committee will hear testimony on it this week.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,514875,00.html

[MADem]

1. "It's my teen ager's phone" will become the new perv excuse... nt

[and-justice-for-all]

2. They do it already...nt

[joshcryer]

3. Holy shit, now that's truly progressive. Lots of people will say it's setting a "pedophile...

...precedent" though. ie, if kids can legally show naked images of themselves, then there's your kid sex loophole.

[elias7]

4. Fundies heads might explode, but DU'ers knee-jerk to pedophilia

My step daughter was doing this with her virtual BF; Kind of gross and seemingly dangerous/self-destructive, but what a tragedy if she had been charged with a sex crime (or had pictures disseminated on the web).

Kudos to VT

[cali]

5. yeah, a friend of my son's was doing this with his gf

not a good thing, but not something that I want to see either kid put on a sex offender list for.

[Vinca]

6. The bottom line is teenagers do dumb things without thinking.

Back in the prehistoric times before cell phones, there might be a salacious game of strip poker that got parents in a panic. Kids shouldn't be branded sex offenders because they've acted like dipshits. It's bad enough their nude images will probably float around the Internet for their entire lives.

[aikoaiko]

7. Unfortunately, those images won't stop with the intended receiver's phone.

Even if you accept the idea of 13 year olds sending nude, perhaps explicit sex photos, to 18 years olds. I don't think it will stop there and teens need to be protected from that exploitation.

But I'm also completely against treating these teens like adult child pornographers.

[seabeyond]

8. there cannot be a middle ground. not sex offender list and not validation of behavior?

there are many reasons to NOT encourage this behavior

they couldnt pass a law that a teen would have to suffer some kind of repercussion or punishment without it having to be the extreme of adult punishment?

[LWolf]

10. Just what I was thinking. nt

[MadHound]

9. Really dumb move

While I'm against busting teens as sex offenders for this sort of thing, I don't think that validating it via legalization is the right thing to do. This will provide too much cover for real pedophiles, and will victimize too many kids in too many other ways.