highlyeccentric | (no subject) (Reply)

Remember those kids charged with peddling child porn by SMS semi-nude pictures of themselves?

District Attorney George Skumanik called for the girls to undergo five weeks of behaviour courses and take a drug test or face prosecution, according to a letter apparently sent to the teenagers' parents.

The American Civil Liberties Union, a cosignatory to the complaint, said Skumanik's threat was unconstitutional, and prosecution could have landed the girls on the sex offenders' register, blighting future job prospects.

"In many states these charges would land these kids on (sex offender) databases ... for 10 years or more, and prevent them from getting many types of jobs," said Witold Walczak, Legal Director for the ACLU in Pennsylvania.

"That's a heck of a lesson for a kid who probably doesn't even realise she is doing something wrong."

In the letter, Skumanik described the pictures as "provocative", and insisted the teens need to "gain an understanding of how (their) actions were wrong", as well as "what it means to be a girl in today's society".

Can we stop again and ask: what the HELL is "wrong" with distributing naked pictures of oneself? Possibly unwise, yes. Possibly unsafe. A bit skanky. But WRONG? I don't see the wrong in it.

And I'm deeply disturbed by this "what it means to be a girl in today's society" bit.