Children charged with child pornography

Just a big WTF!? from me at the moment.

http://www.comcast.net/articles/news....Teen.Sexting/

I think these charges are completely ridiculous. Are we really paying law enforcement to start going after teenagers for things like this? Things like this need to be left to the parents.

And then the charges! Some in the article claim they're just placing these charges to get the kids to think a little... it's complete bullshit. You don't slap felony charges on a teenager for taking pics of their own body and sending them to other underage people. You deal with it internally. This kind of crap has the potential to ruin lives far beyond what taking a picture could do.

Puritan beliefs and values are strangling our country. The human body is a beautiful thing. Save the jail time for the people who try to take advantage of and exploit it, not for teenagers who are trying to explore it.

It's a tough line to walk. How do you accurately judge circumstance and the impact of these things? I do think the punishment is a little harsh, but I look at the situation and I can VERY quickly see it getting out of hand. I don't think the solution is just letting teenagers go run wild and 'explore'.

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Originally posted by Jyn
Puritan beliefs and values are strangling our country.

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This I have to disagree with. It's a generalized blanket statement based on very obvious predisposed bias against puritan values as if they are all bad.

So if you got rid of 'puritan' values as you seem to desire to do, would it be alright if I came over stomped on your throat, stole your computer, set your house on fire, and murdered your entire family?

How about monogamy? Oh yeah that's right. Considering the plethora of STDs out there and people who just dont seem to care about them, by all means indulge. Yeah you can be careful, the trouble other people are not always.

Like ANY democratic government system the majority get catered to and the minority get the proverbial shaft.

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Originally posted by Pae

Like ANY democratic government system the majority get catered to and the minority get the proverbial shaft.

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Er, actually the electoral-college system means that you can get more votes and still lose the elction. Therefore what the acctual majority wants can be totally ignored given the right circumstances.

I partially agree with Jyn. The knee jerk reaction by the government in which they make a blanket felony charge on all students is just absurd. However, I do believe the students should be suspended, and have their files documented. These are teenagers first and foremost, which means teenagers make bonehead decisions from time to time. I truly feel if this happens a second or third time. Then you push for more aggressive charges. Felonies for the first time around is just a bit much. Then you run the risk of tainting the teenagers record for life as a sexual offender.

If they send pictures to each others they get charged with a felony that then has to go to court and has the potential to hinder their chances of making something with their lives, possible inclusion on the sex offender registry and various other things.

But if they were actually having sex with each other it would be handled ENTIRELY BY THE PARENTS. It would fall to the parents to deal with the situation. If it happened in school, they might be expelled for the rest of the year, but the buck stops with the parent's handling of the situation.

That's my problem with this.

A photo vs. actual intercourse...and the photo is the one with the potential for permanent, life-altering (barring pregnancy/std's) effects.

Yeah. This situation is retarded.

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Originally posted by Pae
This I have to disagree with. It's a generalized blanket statement based on very obvious predisposed bias against puritan values as if they are all bad.

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There's nothing wrong with having a bias against irrational, faith-based pseudophilosophy.

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Originally posted by Pae
So if you got rid of 'puritan' values as you seem to desire to do, would it be alright if I came over stomped on your throat, stole your computer, set your house on fire, and murdered your entire family?

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Is there some reason why you think that only puritans would object to this kind of behavior?

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Originally posted by Pae
How about monogamy? Oh yeah that's right. Considering the plethora of STDs out there and people who just dont seem to care about them, by all means indulge. Yeah you can be careful, the trouble other people are not always.

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(Italics mine) Care to guess which group of people in this world tend to be staunchly opposed to sex education and the use and distribution of condoms? I'll give you a hint: it's the religious people.

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Originally posted by Pae
Like ANY democratic government system the majority get catered to and the minority get the proverbial shaft.

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Most democratic governments have mechanisms in place specifically designed to prevent tyranny of the majority.

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Originally posted by Pae

This I have to disagree with. It's a generalized blanket statement based on very obvious predisposed bias against puritan values as if they are all bad.

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No. It's an obvious implication that puritan values being taken to this level are bad. Also, what Snrubb said.

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Originally posted by Pae

So if you got rid of 'puritan' values as you seem to desire to do, would it be alright if I came over stomped on your throat, stole your computer, set your house on fire, and murdered your entire family?

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You don't need puritan morality to know that those are bad things. In fact, you don't need morality at all in that respect. Any government will realize that those things need to be legislated against in order to preserve civilization, regardless of views on morality.

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Originally posted by Pae

How about monogamy? Oh yeah that's right. Considering the plethora of STDs out there and people who just dont seem to care about them, by all means indulge. Yeah you can be careful, the trouble other people are not always.

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The view that monogamy is the only real/good/valid option (not sure if this is an opinion you hold, just stating my own opinion on it) for a relationship needs to change. For some people, it works. It has benefits, but for a lot of people it does not work.

In any case, the main belief I was addressing here is the supposed "reverence" that the human body is held in. How is something revered so much that even the mere idea of other people seeing it is revolting? Nudity should never (I use the word generally, as I realize there could/should be exceptions) be an issue. Two words. Loosen up.

Anyway, I didn't want this to be a debate on puritans so I probably never should have wrote that bit in.

Back to the main issue.

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Originally posted by Kailen

I truly feel if this happens a second or third time. Then you push for more aggressive charges.

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My point is that this type of issue shouldn't even be chargeable as an offense. Two times, three times, ten times... whatever. There shouldn't be charges, especially as child pornography! That's a serious charge for serious criminals, which these kids are not. Do any of you feel that this is particularly deviant behavior? They aren't exploiting themselves for the sexual gratification of the public. In fact, you could argue that the adults who are making a national issue of this are the ones exploiting the underage teens. This is a private matter that should have remained private.

Teens are going to inevitably explore sexually. Letters, IMs, in person, over the phone, and, yes, with pictures. It's a natural part of growing up, and, as mentioned in the article, technology is being used as an extension of that.

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Care to guess which group of people in this world tend to be staunchly opposed to sex education and the use and distribution of condoms? I'll give you a hint: it's the religious people.

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No, it's the catholics. I'd dare to say a majority of the rest of us who profess one faith or another WANT kids to be better educated on sex and contraception.

Just FYI.
;)

Also, I agree with the view that it's just goddamn STUPID to charge a teenager with a sex crime for taking photos of their bits and sending them around.

Instead, I suggest these kids be shown the sorts of things that happen to those photos once the object of their affections finishes fapping.

Paris? Miley? That girl from High School Musical? It's moar likely than you think!

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Originally posted by Maelgrim
No, it's the catholics. I'd dare to say a majority of the rest of us who profess one faith or another WANT kids to be better educated on sex and contraception.

Just FYI.
;)

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You are entirely wrong. You are failing to remember Christianity is not the only religion in the world.

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Originally posted by Snrrub
Is there some reason why you think that only puritans would object to this kind of behavior?

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I came here to say this. Thwarted once again.