Tuesday, January 13, 2009

How to ruin a teenager's life forever.

I don't know.... This is really bothering me. And I will explain why and we will see who agrees.

Here is the story from the breaking news on the P-G today:

Teens charged with sending, getting nude photos by phone


Here is the story:

Three teenage girls who allegedly sent nude or semi-nude cell phone pictures of themselves and the three male classmates high school who received them are charged with child pornography in juvenile court.

Police in Greensburg say the girls are 14 or 15 and the boys charged with receiving the photos are 16 or 17. The juveniles were not identified.

Police say Greensburg Salem High School officials learned of the photos in November. That's when a student was seen using a cell phone during school hours, which violates school rules. The phone was seized and the photos found on it. When police investigated, other phones with more pictures were seized.

OK. I understand they were using their phones when the were not supposed to. But What I don't understand is why they were looking thru the kid's phone pictures.
The phone was seized and the photos found on it.
I don't know that they had a right to do that. I have a real problem with that. New phones can be rather complicated. You don't just accidently "find" questionable pictures. You have to LOOK. But maybe I am wrong about this. Does the school rules say that when the phone is seized it will be searched? Doesn't that violate a right? If it's not the school's phone do they still have the right to look at everything on it? I would feel upset if someone who was not my parent looked thru my phone or looked thru my child's phone. As a parent, that is my job. (and when Julia gets a phone, look thru it, I will.) In my book, you take it, lock it up and they get it back after school or the parent has to come get it. Simple enough. This just really doesn't sit well with me.

The second part of this is the reason I looked at this:

Three teenage girls who allegedly sent nude or semi-nude cell phone pictures of themselves and the three male classmates high school who received them are charged with child pornography in juvenile court.
I will tell you that at 15. At 16. At 17, I did not understand what child pornography encompassed. At those ages, I never would have known that sending a racy pic of myself to my boyfriend would be something that I could go to jail for, or have to register as a sex offender for. SRSLY. I don't expect that these kids understood either. That bothers me too. This whole thing feels like "lets make an example of someone" situation. It really does. Did they hurt anyone? It doesn't sound like it. It sounds more like someone was snooping thru a teenager's phone found something and decided to make a big deal.

This bothers me alot. It feels wrong to me. So anyone have a different opinion here?

4 comments:

  1. Isn't it nice when the right to privacy is superseded by someone else's level of ignorance.

    If anything should happen it should not be a legal matter in this case with all of the parties being underage; it should be parental punishment. Parents should have authority over their children unless they knowingly violate a law.

    Lawfully, i think the teen girls could appeal and so could the boys as long as they biased it on the right to privacy. The school reserves the right to search property on their property, but that is a school rule, not an actual law; I don't think it'd hold up in a court.

    School rules are not laws.

    I mean, you're condemning two kids to being registered as sex offenders. I could see this being a legit case if the girl(s) in question complained of the boys harassing etc. I could also see it if they boys were over age.

    It's a sad thing when our legal system preoccupies itself with making examples out of kids who didn't really realize what was going on nor that seeing someone their own age naked was illegal, rather than fighting legitimate violations of law.

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  2. I agree. Its a bunch of bullshit.

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  3. I thought it was only child porn if an adult was looking at it. Same with Statutory rape. 16 and 17 is not an adult and the girls were just a little bit younger than them. Definitely an effed up situation.

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  4. Letter to editor for your consideration
    Mike Ference
    817 Worthington Avenue
    Clairton, PA 15025
    412-233-5491

    Sadly, three Greensburg Salem (Westmoreland County, PA) students face criminal charges for sending semi-nude photos of themselves via their cell phones. Three male students were the recipients of the photos. Greensburg police have filed appropriate charges with Westmoreland County juvenile authorities charging the three high school girls with manufacturing, disseminating or possessing child pornography. The three high school boys found with the photos on their cell phones are charged with possession of child pornography.
    According to published reports, in mid-November, a former high school principal who is now district director of student services was made aware of the photos which violated school district policies. The phones were confiscated and police were contacted. So in less than two months the alleged crimes were investigated and looks like justice will be served.
    That is unless you are one of the few individuals to have followed the Catholic clergy sex abuse scandal and obvious cover ups by Catholic Church Hierarchy. Why is it that the rape of innocent children still goes unpunished while texting of semi-nude photos by immature teenage girls and boy’s girls receives a more vigilant investigation and probable punishment than crimes committed by grown men against innocent children?
    I’m sure the Greensburg Salem students involved have learned a hard lesson. And if they and their parents take the time to read even a portion of the Philadelphia Grand Jury investigation into the Philadelphia Archdiocese, perhaps they’ll learn another lesson – justice is not for dysfunctional sex freaks disguised as Catholic priest.

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