The CBS TV outlet in Vermont is reporting on the Vermont legislature's move to make text messaging sexually explicit pictures of yourself not a crime if you are under eighteen and the person receiving the text is under eighteen. The legislature will hear more testimony on the subject later this week. Currently teenagers texting sexually explicit pictures among themselves can be charged under child pornography laws. I am not going to comment on the law or the possibility of the law, but there are some aspects of this we need to look at.
What has happened to the concept of dating that a girl would even consider sending explicit pictures to her boyfriend or other male friend? Have we totally lost the idea of valuing girls and women for something other than sex? Whatever happened to the idea of spending time with a member of the opposite sex as a teenager and simply enjoying each other's company and enjoying common interests? What have we done to the value of all people when the behavior of explicit texting is commonly happening among our teenagers? The fact that the issue of 'sexting' is being legally addressed should be a wake-up call to us all. Best wishes to anyone raising a teenager in this atmosphere!
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