Friday, July 04, 2008

Ruining LIves

Another teenager is facing felony charges for sending nude photos of himself to others, facing three counts of "dealing in material harmful to a minor".

The 16 year-old denies the charges. His parents have already taken away his texting and photo capabilities.

But three felony counts?

At 16 years old, most kids have experimented with sex. Hormones are in full bloom. Kids are bored, they want to act like adults, but they are held back due to society's refusal to recognize their basic human needs.

Glenn Harlan Reynolds, a law professor, recognizes the problem:
Teen-agers have been having sex forever. Their bodies are maturing, their hormones are raging and doing what comes naturally is, well, natural. Indeed, for most of human history, teen sex was an entirely normal part of life, since people tended to marry and be treated as adults at what were, by modern standards, very early ages.
Americans must come to the realization that kids sending nude photos of themselves is a high-tech way of expressing their sexuality. With some schools even banning hugging and kissing, we're creating an entire generation of highly-sexed and highly frustrated children who are in great need of finding new ways to be sexual.

Is is dumb to send nude photos of yourself to someone else? Yes, in today's society it can obviously get you in a lot of trouble. But discipline by parents should be enough. Criminalizing teenagers and ruining lives simply for finding outlets for normal sexual urges is even dumber.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

No comments: