Sexting (Sex + Texting) is the new rage.  Sexting is the name people are using to describe sending nude pictures via text message, and, according to “the media,” it’s all the rage among teens.  In a nationwide poll conducted by the National Campaign to Support Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, about 20% of teens admitted to participating in some form of sexting.  Sadly, because these kids are underage, law enforcement people consider this to be a form of felony “kiddie porn”, and arrests of some of these teenagers are happening.

Everything about this story upsets me.  It upsets me that typically horny teens, acting in the fog of typically horny teen stupidity, are being treated as pedophiles.  What could be more “normal” than teens wanting to look at naked teens?  How can this be compared to an adult who is sexually attracted to children or who sexually abuses a child or who purchases or collects material that exploits children?

Teens need information.  Teens need sex education, at home and in school.  Teens need to have their nascent sexuality welcomed and their self-esteem supported.  When they behave in foolish ways (and what human being has never behaved foolishly?), they need open, non-shaming conversation, not felony arrests.
It upsets me that these teens don’t realize that photos of this sort have a way of hanging around forever (digital images don’t wear out or fade out) and are likely to wind up in the hands of people who have no business looking at them, like middle-aged adults who purchase and collect material that exploits children.

It upsets me that western culture seems to promote the idea that nudity equals pornography.  We rate movies and games that include scenes of murder and mayhem as suitable for teens, while movies that show a penis or vagina, or even pubic hair, are typically rated NC-17 or X.  In other words, we behave as if a penis or a vagina is more dangerous than a machine gun or a car bomb!

Make no mistake, I abhor “child pornography”.  I totally support law enforcement officials doing everything in their power to keep children from being exploited by adults.  Sadly, in this case, in the name of protecting children, we seem to be criminalizing sexual behavior, something with which our country has a long history.  Want to learn more about America’s “war on sex” have a listen to an interview I had with Dr. Marty Klein, author of “America’s War On Sex.”