Sexting

Today in my staff development for my preschool job we had a person come in from Care House which is a place where minors that have been sexually abused can go to get help. She gave a lot of information about what they do and how they help children, but what I found most interesting was what she had to say about sexting. This is information that is, in my opinion, vital to anyone with their own kids, or who work with students in any capacity. I especially have in my mind friends that are teachers of jr. and sr. highers and youth ministry workers.

Here are the facts as were stated to me (and as far as I understood them):

In Oakland County--

1. If a child (minor under 18) takes a picture of any "private part" (defined by that which would be covered by a bathing suit) and texts it to someone, that child could receive 20 YEARS of probation and a permanent record of that.
2. If a minor on the receiving end of that "sext" distributes it to another person. The person that forwarded it AND the person who originally sent the picture could receive 7 YEARS of probation (this would be in addition to the initial 20 for person #1).
3. Each time the picture is further "passed around" an additional 4 YEARS could be tacked on to the 27 already earned! (This part I am fuzzy on...I feel like I may have misunderstood part of this- I could have the "every time" part not quite right).
4. HERE IS WHERE I WANT MY FRIENDS THAT ARE YOUTH MINISTRY WORKERS TO PAY ATTENTION: If an adult opens the phone of a minor that is NOT THEIR OWN CHILD because they suspect "sexting" and in fact find it on there. IT IS PUNISHABLE OF UP TO 27 YEARS!! If you suspect that a student that you know has inappropriate pictures on their phone, DO NOT OPEN IT! Take it to the authorities. The phone is property of that child's parents and you cannot open their property or view their child's pictures by law.

Again, this comes from what I believe to be a reliable source. She is a social worker for Oakland County and works closely with families that have had to deal with sexual abuse and child pornography. She is familiar with the law and stressed the consequences of this activty to us.

I know that, for myself, if I suspected a minor in my care, especially in a youth group/teaching capacity, I might not think twice about looking at their pictures to see if there was anything on there before I made an issue out of it, thinking that I was saving everyone from a lot of extra trouble if I was mistaken.

Also, after hearing this, I am going to be having a serious conversation with my boys about "sexting". We've talked about it a little but now I am going to make sure that they understand the consequences of participating in this kind of activity are great...first and foremost, emotionally and spiritually. But based on what I learned today...the consequences can last long into your future in ways that I didn't know were so severe.

No one wants to have these talks with their kids. I also can't imagine my own kids ever taking pictures of themselves. But the reality is that you can't control what other kids might forward to them. I want to let them know that activity like this is not to be taken lightly and that once something like this is forwarded onto their phone, it is their responsibility to handle it in an appropriate manner by seeking help from an adult they trust. Then, that adult needs to know how to handle it as well so that they are protecting themselves too.