Sexting can lead to jail time

I heard about this a few days ago. My daughter is 12 and has a cell phone. I check hers very often, but this just gives something else to worry about.

grades 4 - 6...?! Really? Wow...

Interestingly enough I read some research the other day that said teens in 2008 are less likely to be sexually active than teens in the early 90's.

How are they refraining from sex all the while being more exposed to sexual behavior?

I shudder when i see what the little girls are wearing these days when i go pick up my little sister. Some of them are fully wearing make up. My sister is in the 4th grade....

It even applies to guys just look at all the trouble that Mark Foley got into when he was texting congressional pages

We live in a world where the industry preys on ignorant people. Who's more ignorant then children? They want everything. They also fall under peer pressure, the best demographic.

Wow! I had never even head of "sexting" before! Sheesh! Little kids, and no, it certainly sounds like the laws have not caught up to the times. Altho that one young man who enticed the young girl to make a movie and then sent it on to others...wring his neck. New toys need new laws I guess.

The kids involved with this stuff just get younger and younger. Sad really. Hey, maybe it'll get to a point where we'll have to teach sex ed to kindergardeners like in that one episode of South Park. Hope not.

i can understand grades 10-12 they are getting older and getting horny but grades 4-6 ew. cell phones are evil :D

i can see why the increase trend of sex in our culture is causing the reverse in the trend of teen sex. its because its not like drugs. sex isnt something people look at as being cool. its a curiosity and when its out there its just not as big of a curiosity i guess i dunno. never mind what i said actually. its all really confusing. but i guess sex has always been confusing. just look at those paintings on the walls form the roman times. they were just as confused about it as we are.

Sex isn't confusing really...we're all wired for it, it's a basic need. I blieve we've become more accepting of the fact and as a soceity we're more open to it now then we were before. There's a lot more information out there for teens now and more exposure to it.

This is like when webcams came out though...

I can't see anyone doing this past high school, lol.

Kids like things that are taboo. Once they're not taboo it's boring.
Sex = taboo.

Stop making it so secretive and such.
I remember 5th grade. (I'm young lol)
Every girl in my class was ready for a sex ed class. Well, like 90%, and even then, the other 10 had to get out of their bubble. There were boyfriends, kissing (OMG!), la la. Just tell the damn kids.

I think its interesting that humanity is cycling back to this trend in early sexuality. With the current rise in teen promiscuity and pregnancy (akin to young arranged unions) it's like we're stepping back in time.

It sounds dumb, but that's what's going on. Kids want to live in an adult world, but obviously, middle schoolers aren't prepared for the backlash (hell, even most adults aren't).

This kind of sexual behavior can easily border on harassment, and it seems as though most of the young people - boys and girls a like - who are sex-ting among other activities see this as completely and socially acceptable? Sexual harassment is not acceptable under any circumstance. I hope these kids will be able to know the difference.

Sounds like another perfect opportunity for parents to start parenting. But what are the odds...

This is silly. I thought the law wanted to pretect kids from sex with others that are much older than them. But if these kids are sending these images to others there own age, what is the arguement? Its clear to me that these kids are sending these pictures because they wanted to. There not being forced to send these images and if they are then that is something that should be dealt with.
But as far as I am concerned this will only lead to adults telling kids that sex and actions like it are wrong, bad, evil, dirty,etc. And we would all agree that this is not the case.

The kid can't have the cell phone without the parent signing off on it.

I don't think parents sign up for cell phones for kids with this in mind...
While I suppose images are potentially more influential or "harmful" to middle schoolers than the good ol' days of passing notes about how far you went.. Honestly my middle school days were weirder than this without cell phones. Don't trip, they're gonna figure it out one way or another.

(...I've sent naughty pictures via text. not just for highschoolers! give it a try.)