Girl, 14, arrested for posting nude MySpace pics

[LaughingCat]

RUT ROW.........I wonder how long before they come after me for abusing the elderly?

(Using best Larry the Cable Guy impersonation)
Now that's fuuunny, right there.

[Chris]

I have a 20-year-old son that wouldn't deliberately hurt a fly. But he's a kid. They had some big spring break prank planned for the girls across the hall in their dorm. The girls went away and my son planned to be back early. They have a shared bathroom with my son's friends. The girls they were pranking are not terribly fond of my son and his roommate. They planned to re-arrange their furniture then stuff the entire room full to the ceiling with crumpled up newspapers.

As I told him, this sounds like an innocent prank. But in the process, you're committing the crimes of breaking and entering and vandalism. These girls don't like you already and if they had a bad time on spring break, they may just want to take it out on you. Do you really want to endure criminal prosecution AND expulsion from your university just to get a giggle?

Kids do dumb things. Even kids with exceptional charachter and intelligence. A 14-year-old distributing nude pictures of herself probably needs the intervention of the criminal justice system. They're obviously not getting much parenting. A criminal conviction is probably better than where she's headed right now. and while I don't know the particular laws of that state, I would imagine that as a first-offense juvenile the record could be expunged.

[mosi]

Personally I thought Parenting was fun....
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.....Mosi's Parenting 101...
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.....NEVER be the kid's friend......that's why God created kids their age.

..... ALWAYS react to bad actions of the kids... just a little crazier than the kids thought you would react

..... Never ask what the other Parents think....follow your gut.

..... and finally.....
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[Perlmudder]

I don't see how you can "ban" camera phones with kids. If someone really wants to take a picture of themselves, they will use a digital camera, a laptop web cam, etc. If you are going to attempt to ban just the camera phone, you are missing the point of the issue I think.

[JJ Apache]

I don't see how you can "ban" camera phones with kids. If someone really wants to take a picture of themselves, they will use a digital camera, a laptop web cam, etc. If you are going to attempt to ban just the camera phone, you are missing the point of the issue I think.

You can't ban them. You have to be a Parent Declining their (your child) request......
When I tell my daughter no, it means NO, its not open for debate!!!!!!
And every attemp after that.............. earns a disapline.

[Perlmudder]

You can't ban them. You have to be a Parent Declining their (your child) request......
When I tell my daughter no, it means NO, its not open for debate!!!!!!
And every attemp after that.............. earns a disapline.

I agree with that, perhaps we should be looking to the parents to instill proper morals and values in their child. It's no surprise that a 14 year old girl did something stupid, hell, I'm 21 and I still do stupid things every day.

On a side note, you ever think about doing something, determine it is a bad idea, and then do it anyways? I bought frozen orange juice concentrate to make up some morning mixed drinks the other day. Well I couldn't get it out of the can, so I decided that I would cut it out of the can. I determined it was a bad idea, then went ahead and did it anyway. The knife slipped, I cut my finger nail in half, and then told myself I was a moron.

[rbhudelson]

I kind of agree with JJ, what does a kid need a picture cell phone for, to easy to get in trouble with, boys as a prank could take a picture of another boy at the urinal or in the the locker room, and then pass it around as a joke. There have been cases of kids committing suicide over things posted about or of them on the internet. Looking the other way cause they are kids is not always right either. IMHO kids have to much stuff and to little supervision and I am not sure it is always good for them.

no one is suggesting that anyone should look the other way. what most of us are saying is that if a 14yo does something stupid like that - its not worth them being convicted as a sex offender. I 100% support what we do to sex offenders; once convicted, you can never leave it behind. You have to register, with a public database, every time you move. Everyone around you knows you are a sex offender - but they don't know what you did. The more the government convicts 14yo's of a sex offense - for sending nude pics of themselves - the more it waters down the hell on earth we put "real" offenders through.

It has nothing to do with camera phones, parenting, good kids, bad kids. I'm 48 years old. When I was in the 8th grade my across the street neighbor girl took a naked "polaroid" of herself and left it in my locker. Point is, this is not a new phenomenon. Technology has just made it easy to do and distribute - plus role models like Paris and Brittany have made it the "cool" thing to do....

[masher44]

When I was in the 8th grade my across the street neighbor girl took a naked "polaroid" of himself and left it in my locker. I still have it today.

[rbhudelson]

And I can see your post at face value is PROFOUNDLY RUDE
her post wasn't stupid just a different style of writing then you may use, I had no trouble understanding it and I may be outspoken, but I'm not stupid

I would agree whole heartedly that my response to her was profoundly rude. It was worse than that. I meant it to be that way.

[rbhudelson]

The latest - Vermont moves to the middle ground.

MONTPELIER, Vt. - Parents, school districts and law enforcement have been grappling with what to do with teenagers who take sexually explicit photos of themselves with their cell phone cameras and send them to friends.

Vermont legislators are moving to get rid of one option: child pornography counts that result in lifetime listings on the state's Internet sex offender registry.

Legislation passed by the Vermont Senate and pending in the House would remove the most serious legal consequences for teenagers who engage in "sexting." The bill would carve out an exemption from prosecution for child pornography for 13- to 18-year-olds on either the sending or receiving end of sexting messages, so long as the sender voluntarily transmits an image of himself or herself.

The bill, however, would not legalize the conduct. Legislators believe prosecutors could still use laws against lewd and lascivious conduct and against disseminating indecent materials to a minor.

State legislatures, including Vermont's, have been cracking down on sexual predators in recent years, but lawmakers here say they don't want increasingly tough penalties applied to those caught up in what many regard as a youthful fad.

"We felt that it's poor behavior and it's not something we want to give our OK to," said Sen. Richard Sears, D-Bennington and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. "But at the same time, do we want a kid in jail? Do we want them tagged as a sex offender for the rest of their lives? And the answer is no."

Sexting appears to be widespread among teens. A December survey of 1,400 young people for the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy found that one-fifth of girls had sent nude or seminude pictures of themselves electronically and that a third of boys had received such pictures, said Marisa Nightingale, senior adviser with the group.

Prosecutors around the country have tried various approaches against teenagers who used cell phones, e-mail or social networking Web sites to transmit naughty pictures of themselves.

Last month, a 14-year-old New Jersey girl was arrested for posting nude pictures of herself on MySpace. She was charged with child pornography and distribution of child pornography for allegedly posting nearly 30 explicit pictures on the site. But it's likely she'll avoid jail because she's a juvenile, according to a prosecutor handling the case.

In Pennsylvania, 17 students involved in distributing photos of nude or scantily clad female classmates accepted a county prosecutor's offer that their cases would be resolved if they participated in a five-week after-school program on sexual harassment and similar topics. Three balked and sued in federal court to stop prosecutors from filing charges.


"I don't think it serves any public interest to paint those kids ... as sex offenders," said Donovan, chief prosecutor in Vermont's most populous county.

Donovan, Allen and others agreed that the real solution is educating teens about the risks of sexting.

Allen said his group's "Think Before You Post" campaign was aimed at getting children to think about the practical consequences of sending materials that can be reproduced and end up living on the Internet forever.

Forty percent of kids who had sent sexting messages said they had done so as a joke, Nightingale said her group's survey showed. "But you're basically relinquishing control of how people see you in this very sensitive area, which is your sexuality," she said.

[Sydwayz]

...A December survey of 1,400 young people for the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy found that one-fifth of girls had sent nude or seminude pictures of themselves electronically and that a third of boys had received such pictures...

Just goes to prove that two-timing women starts from a very early age.