Ok...the hysteria over teenagers 'sexting' each other has officially gone way too far. Granted, this is an unfortunate story and I feel very bad for the girl involved. I hate to be trite and say something like "kids will be kids" but that's really what happened here. It never should have been treated as anything other than telephone harassment. The idea that children would have to register as sexual offenders and principals would be empowered to further violate childrens privacy (already a slim, slim right for kids), by searching their cell phones is just too, too much. The bottom line is this:
“After the story broke, parents called us because they didn’t know about the law that could send kids to jail for a bad choice,” said Courtney Schrieve, a spokeswoman for the North Thurston Public Schools. “Kids didn’t know about it either. So we decided to turn this into an opportunity to educate teachers, parents and students.”
If a large segment of society doesn't realize that they could go to jail for breaking a law, is it a good law? I think not. I think it's time for lawmakers to realize that just because something is recognized generally as "dumb, bad, awful, rude or immature", that does not necessary mean that it is or should be recognized as "criminal".
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