Creating Young FelonsDo teens participating in the sending and receiving of nude photos really deserve to be labeled as a felon? In the article “Teens, Nude Photos and the Law,” Dalia Lithwick is saying that teens should be punished for participating in child pornography, but not with punishments that will last a lifetime. Lithwick’s article tells of the many children that participate in viewing, possessing , or sending nude photos, and how most teens are completely unaware that the photos they are sending are crimes. Lithwick accurately acknowledges the fact that these children should not be given such harsh punishments for these “sexy” photos. Lithwick lets the reader know that child pornography is a growing problem throughout the nation. Lithwick states, “One teenager in five has reported having sent or posted naked photos of themselves.”(Lithwick par. 1) Lithwick’s fact in the quote lets people truly understand the rate in which this epidemic is increasing. I also know from background knowledge that people in my school have participated in the sending of nude photos. Most people have not participated, but there is still a very large number that have and the risks they have made to do so is most definitely not worth it. I think that they should warn children more of the potential acts that people can do with these photos that could eventually come back to haunt them. In the article Lithwick also describes some of the various malicious acts committed that allow people to get ahold of the pictures of these children. Lithwick tells of how sending naked photos has its risks, and gives some examples. One example Lithwick used said, “The picture of a naked 14-year-old girl was allegedly sent to more than 100 cell phones.”(Lithwick par. 4). This shows how easily a 14 year old’s picture was sent to multiple people, and indicates that sending naked photos is not worth the risk. I know that people can do unforgivable acts with photos of girls or guys that get passed through schools. People in my school have had these exact acts happen to them because someone simply sent the photos around. These are such mean acts to do to someone, but people do it anyway for their own amusement. Many think that using chatting apps, such as snapchat, are safe, but there are ways for people to secretly save photos or just screenshot the picture, and send them out to the public. Sometimes people in our school use the photos as a form of bullying that make some teens not want to show their faces because of the one mistake they made. All in all, it is so easy for people to get ahold of and send out nude photos, that kids should never be risking it in the first place. Lithwick discusses how judges and prosecutors give too harsh of sentences to these young kids for the photos. Lithwick states, “but judges and prosecutors need to understand that a lifetime of cyber-humiliation shouldn’t be grounds for a lifelong real criminal record.” (Lithwick par. 7) This quote very strongly describes Lithwick’s view that teens should not be given such severe punishment for sending naked photos. I totally agree with this, because children should not be given such harsh sentences for sending some nude photos, just trying to be “sexy”. These teens have absolutely no idea that what they are doing is a felony, so I think that they should be informed of the risks of sexting, although I believe the current standards of punishment are too brutal. . I’m not saying that they should not be punished for their actions, but I do believe that the kids should be able to live life not being on the sex offenders list because of one juvenile mistake. Lithwick’s article states very strong facts about the risks of sending nude photos, but at the same time, it tells of the unnecessarily extreme punishments for mere photos. Many more kids are involved with the sending and receiving of the naked photos because of the growing amounts of technology and social media apps. These apps have made it very easy for kids to sext by inventing things such as snapchat that are literally conversations solely through pictures. Occasionally a kid will try to be sexy and send a nude photo, while at the same time they have no idea that they are risking ruining their life. If you ask me, I don’t think they will ever truly be able to stop the sending of these pictures, so they should lower the cases and make kids more aware of the potential risks that these photos cause. Works Cited Lithwick, Dahlia. "Lithwick: Teens, Nude Photos and the Law." Newsweek. Newsweek LLC, 13 Feb. 2009. Web. 15 Oct. 2015. <http://www.newsweek.com/lithwick-teens-nude-photos-and-law-82721?piano_t=1>. |