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.
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Monday, April 13, 2009
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Sigh ...
ReplyDeleteThis would be one of those "they're going to do it anyway" arguments.
Let's just legalize murder and rape, too ... people keep doing that despite the laws.
Seriously, this is a bad idea. However, the real problem is that parents are letting their kids use technology without monitoring anything that they're doing. As in just about everything, the family is where the solutions should be found. The rest would be rendered academic if we'd just do the right thing.