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Austintown students learn dangers of ‘sexting’
By christine keeling
austintown
Students learned Wednesday that “sexting” can hav
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James DeLucia , a clinical counselor at Martin P. Joyce Juvenile Justice Center in Youngstown, explains the consequences of sexting to Austintown Fitch High School students. Representatives of the justice center and Austintown Police Department talked to students Wednesday about legal and emotional dangers.
e serious ramifications.
Sexting is the practice of sending or receiving electronic communications of sexually oriented matter. Martin P. Joyce Juvenile Justice Center and Austintown Police Department staff talked Wednesday to Fitch High School students about the legal and emotional dangers.
Twenty percent of minors have posted semi-nude pictures or videos, 40 percent have posted suggestive messages, 30 percent admit doing it, 61 percent feel pressured to do it and 50 percent of the people who receive sexual pictures will share them, James DeLucia, clinical counselor at the Juvenile Justice Center, told students.
And although media, advertisers and video games paint women in a negative light and help make people think that sex is casual and emotionless, the consequences are real, he said.
A minor who sends a sexually explicit communication has no idea where it will end up and can’t get it back. It can leave a person vulnerable to other crimes, such as blackmail and coercion, as well as stereotyped or bullied.
DeLucia warned that because Ohio law doesn’t address sexting, the legal issue is dealt with on a case-by-case basis and can be considered a felony.
Punishment can include jail time or having to register as a sexual offender. Charges can be filed against the minor who sent the material and the person or persons who received it.
He said with 88 counties, and no law, there are 88 ways for the legal system to handle it.
“I’m not here to say whether it’s right,” said DeLucia to the audience. “Just how it is.”
Juvenile Detective Sgt. Kathy Dina of the Austintown Police Department said she wanted students to know just how serious sexting can be.
In the last year, there has been increase in sexting-related problems because technology, such as smartphones, are making it easier to do, she said,
Parents need to be educated and know what their children are doing, said Dina.
“Kids are the largest producer of child pornography,” said DeLucia. “They are making life easy for the bad guys.”
While it is illegal for children under 18 to send naked pictures of oneself, House Bill 80 would make sexting an offense related only to minors.
It would protect them from receiving adult penalties for sending nude pictures of themselves or others on computers or phones.