Linnea Bennett
Magazine Editor
UPDATE: The House Judiciary Committee voted 5 -3 on April 8, on the bill regarding minors using cell phones and other electronic devices to send and/or receive pictures that include nudity. Although under current Arizona law, a teen can be arrested for felony sexual exploitation of a minor, Arizona Attorney General and some prosecutors don’t think the punishment is what it should be. Senate Bill 1266 proposes that juveniles would be charged with a misdemeanor. According to azcentral.com, “some committee members say the new law is still too harsh and could be applied unevenly across the state.”
Arizona State legislature wants to crack down on teens’ inappropriate sharing of sexually explicit photos. In other words, they are working to put a ban on what is commonly known as sexting.
On Wednesday, February 3, the Arizona State Legislature endorsed a bill that would make it a misdemeanor for minors to share or keep any kind of sexually explicit material, whether it is obtained through cell phones or the internet and is in the form of photos, videos, or chats.
This bill has come in response to an increase in inappropriate messaging between young adults. It is also a solution to handling the punishment of teens in possession of such photos. Typically, someone is listed as a sex offender if he or she is found guilty of obtaining or distributing sexually explicit photos of a minor. When it comes to adults, the punishment seems to fit the crime, but the same cannot necessarily be said for teens who are exchanging pictures of their peers.
However, state officials are adamant. They want to make sure a punishment is served for sending or being in possession of nude photos. With the new bill, teens would be issued a misdemeanor, but would not face as extreme repercussions as the label of “sex offender” on their life’s records.
According to a statement on Akvoa.com, the Arizona Prosecuting Attorney’s Advisor Council executive director, Paul Ahler, said, “There’s enough of this child pornography out there already without having minors contribute to it.”
To some, the endorsement of this bill may seem random, but the new legislation is only keeping up with what seems to be a growing fad. One recent poll put on by the Associated Press-MTV was released with statistics saying that more than twenty five percent of young adults surveyed claimed to have participated in sexting of some kind while ten percent were have said to sent nude photos of themselves to peers. According to kvoa.com, Arizona is following the footsteps of six other states that have adopted laws banning sexting. Pennsylvania and Kentucky are also in their own processes of passing similar bills
Not all are on board with this bill, however, as some believe young adults engaging in such inappropriate activity should be left to deal with the same consequences as those that deal in child pornography. Others agree with the bill.
Hopes are still high as the Arizona legislature pushes to pass this bill. Junior Lauren Crider agrees with the idea and said, “I think the new law will be effective and it should be effective because sexting is just completely classless and shows no self respect.”
Freshman, Tate Lewis, also thinks it is a good idea and said, “I think that this bill is a good idea because laws regarding currently child pornography is kind of harsh. Young people should not be labeled as sex offenders.”
I believe this law that our legislation is trying to pass is very inappropriate. I think that sexting is bad and classless like Lauren Crider mentioned, but I also think that labeling people as sex offenders is a little over the top. However, I do agree that there should be something done to limit this explicit material being sent around. My only concerns are how is this going to be done and are the actions of our government officials going to violate our privacy rights as an American. I would hope our government wouldn’t violate these rights we have been given, but going through an individual’s phone or intercepting pictures being sent would be the only way to catch someone of this act. So there for our privacy rights would be getting violated and the term “Big Brother” would start to apply to our government once again. Now having said this, I believe this topic relates to the book Brave New World. This book talks about people having open relationships with many individuals at once. It also says that their government strongly suggests these types of sexual things happen very often. Sexting is not one of those many things, but it would fit in the atmosphere of this book. I am not trying to imply that our government should encourage these acts, but I am trying to imply that our government should not interfere with an individual’s private life, if they are not hurting another person.
I believe this bill being passed is another over the top things we really dont care and need. Not that we dont care but right now we need to be focusing on much more important things than what teens are sending through their phones. This is a huge violation of privacy because we can not do anything without being tracked or people looking into our stuff. There is no such thing as privacy anymore. The government wants to control all we posses just like in the brave new world do, the people are totally controlled by the government that there is no way they can keep secrets. The sexting is not a really big deal because we all see nudity in some sort of media or internet even in magazines and I think people should just grow up and be mature about it. The sex offender policy I believe is just too much and immature because these teens are still growing up and they will soon find out that this is not right to do. I agree with everything Erick said in the beginning that its classless and inapropriet. The brave new world book and whats going on with society and what the government is doing today are becoming very similar to each other. Although in the brave new world the sexual content is not a big deal because they think of it as a normal activity and are mature about it because they have been learning about it since they were young.
I believe that this is a good bill that the Arizona State Legislature is trying to pass. Sexting is very inappropriate and needs to be abolished. Teens need to start being held accountable for their actions, even if its just a misdeamnor. I understand that this bill may raise eyebrows because people may argue that it maybe restricting us of our first amendment rights, but I think it’s not because it is trying to protect our society from the real creeps and sex offenders that do do sexting. The general idea of sexting relates to the book “Brave New World”, because in the book, the government promotes sex with any and everyone. Even though it maybe an extreme, I think BNW shows us what could eventually happen if we didn’t pass this bill and restrict what people can and can’t do regarding this touchy subject. However, I believe that the government should try to avoid passing such bills unless it’s highy nessacary; people do not want the government trying to control more of their lives than they do already.
I believe this topic is spiraling way out of control. All of a sudden there are commercials on TV and it is all over the radio. I can see why the government wants to pass this bill, but if that person is willing to send a nude picture out then they should think about what could possibly happen or who could possibly see it. What people do in there spare time is what they do? Plus how much is this really going to cost to try and stop all of these messages from going out. We are already in debt, how much more is this going to set us, as the United States back? If this bill gets passed no matter what, if there is a will there is a way and those messages will get out. It is just like marijuana. Yes it is illegal but people are still smoking it. Get where I’m going with this? To me the government wants to control us, just like in the Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, the people are controlled by the government and there is no way they can keep secrets. Do not get me wrong but both males and females are at blame for this. The reason I know this is because females have asked me to send them pictures. I have also asked for pictures in return but I know my/there limits and I do not push females into sending me pictures. No is NO! I also do not talk to females about sexual things who are more then a year younger then me. One it is weird and then I look like a creeper and two I’m eighteen and I’m not trying to get locked up over a girl or a picture. So all in all we have many other problems in the United States to worry about, like the war, global warming, etc.
The ban on sexting would be a good idea, but I do not necessarily think that it will stop the matter completly. If rules are put on something, especially with a situation dealing with a broad teen audience, there will be rebellions anyway. I do not think the threat of a misdemeanor will stop many of the distributing or obtaining of pictures. Yes, it is very degrading to reveal pictures of yourself like that to people, but in today’s society, the self respect and staying “clean” is no longer a big deal to anyone. Such as is the book Brave New World, they do not have any emotional ties to sex, and they start erotic play at an unrealistly young age. They almost have no respect in that book, but they are conditioned and do not know any better. With the way society is now and with the release of sexting, people will eventually get to the point of society like in the Brave New World. If the cell phones were around in this book, the sexting would be out to everyone without any concern. And child pornography? They already play with eachother as toddlers anyway. Hopefully this new bill gets around the whole counrty, and hopefully it works, or else our morals and beliefs as respected citizens in this society will be demolished and will end up becoming like Adolus Huxley’s Brave New World.
I think that sexting is just something so disgusting and tasteless. A person’s body is not for the whole world to see, just them. Society encourages having sex with multiple people, so why not send pictures to each other? If they are going to make a law forbidding sexting, they should make a law about sex before marriage too. Both are awful things that make our society classless. I think if they ban sexting it will decrease the amount of people doing it, but people will still do it. They need to teach students in school grades k-12 about dignity of their own body. If schools put it in their curriculum about how your body is for you and your spouse after marriage, then maybe people would stop degrading themselves and showing the world their body. In “Brave New World” they do not have cell phones, but if they did everyone’s background of their cell would be of another person’s body. Everyone would know what everyone looked like and there would be pictures all over the Internet, television, posters, and everywhere of naked bodies. If sexing continues, one day we may end up like “Brave New World” where everyone sleeps with everyone with no attachment. The government needs to not only ban sexting, but also ban sex before marriage, before “Brave New World” becomes our world.
I agree with David. I think that the government should have better things to do than be monitoring what teens send eachother on their cell phones. Honestly, it’s not like it’s actually hurting anyone but the people involved. Society in general is getting to a point where this is considered normal. Who knows? Maybe one day the world will end up being like the Brave New World and sex and such will be a normal everyday thing that comes up in conversation and is publicly displayed in weird games. Anyway, the point is that sexting shouldn’t be made such a big deal of. Evetually people will stop doing it because they get tired of it and if they don’t it just means they’ll get older and become adults that get caught by the law and labeled sex offenders. The government should just let things fall where they may and quit trying to control everything “for our own good”.
I think passing this bill would be a great idea because there is already child pornography out there so it is more teens that are adding to that makes it worse. To some people it may seem harsh that if someone is found guilty they face sex offender charges but that is only to a person that is an adult recieving and sending pictures to a minor. If this does not stop we could end up like Brave New World and be promiscious and belong too everyine. This bill needs to get passed and stop this sexting because it is ridiculous and unclassy.
I agree with Tate Lewis that the laws now are kind of harsh. No child should have to live with ‘SEX OFFENDER’ on thier record over some stupid immature mistake. All teens make stupid immature mistakes and they dont get horrible titles such as ‘sex offender’ on their record. Like i said, its a little too harsh, but something really should be done still for all the sick people that pass around and or give out pictures like that. I strongly think that this would be included in Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. Sex is like their first language in that book, they learn it at such an early age. While communication such as texting now adays is almost necessary. Put those two things together, and Brave New World would probably be more revolved around sex than it already is. If that’s at all possible.
I think that sexting should also be banned since it does increase the amount of under age pornography in the world and there is no telling what one may do with the images that they receive. For example one may decide to post them on the internet and it could embarress the person in the picture. The whole world will be able to see them and with the society in this modern day and age, people can be quite harsh and label that person something they wish not to be called. For someone to even send a picture of themself to one another in such a category, shows that they have no decency and lack respect for themself as well. If other’s can get a hold of the images, it can only end up causing more complications for them and their families. There has been many recent reports of people getting blackmailed due to sexting and this helps demonstrate that its a completely bad idea to do so, adding a new law agaisnt these kinds of actions can help reduce and hopefully end these types of problems.
I think that the law that legislation wants to pass might be a bit too dramatic. I think that parents should monitor what their kids are sending to each other. I understand that it can ruin many kids reputations, but they know that there is no privacy when it comes to those kinds of things. You really can not trust anyone with things like that. It will get out to more then just the person intended. i do not think that if you are caught, you should be labeled a sex offender. I think that is way too much for something smaller then it really is. This subject relates to Brave New World because in the book sex is a really open subject that is not viewed inappropriate to have with many partners. sexting would fit perfect because it would probably be encouraged If they knew about it or had the technology.
Before I came here I had no idea what sexting was. Sending pictures of themselves – naked, who does that?! Apparently more than I could imagine. After a discussion with some of my friends I found out that it is more common than I thought. Will a law about sexting help? I do not know. Teenagers drinks alcohol before 21 and they smoke marijuana, and why is this? Because they can get away with it! They will get away with sexting too and this makes me wonder what will happen when a couple that sends each other pictures break up and are angry with each other? Blackmailing. Sexting would fit better in Brave New World where they do not have respect of their own bodies and the view is totally different but we are not living in a Brave New World and sexting is pornography. It does not matter if it would help or not, I still believe that there needs to be a law against sexting and I hope that teenagers will respect themselves more.
I believe that sexting is a tender topic. I don’t think it is the government’s duty to take care of teen’s sexual angst. Teenagers should be smarter than to send nude pictures of themselves, and if they aren’t, then the outcome is their fault. It’s pathetic that kids need laws to not do something these days. The government shouldn’t have to try to protect us from everything. Teenagers need to be more headstrong than sex-strong. The topic of sexting relates to Brave New World because the government controls the people and sexual relations are as common as talking. If the people of BNW had cell phones, sexting would just be another mode of sex and they wouldn’t think twice about it. The government would actually encourage sexting. In our society, sexting is immoral or wrong. But in BNW, it’s encouraged and positive. This shows just how different societies can be. We think that sexting is wrong because we have been told that. What if it’s not wrong?
I believe this bill should be passed for the safety of young teens. I also believe that this will not stop teens from sexting. I mean teens tend to rebel against the law and it has not stopped them from drinking or usage of drugs. It will probably cut down a little bit because no one wants to get in trouble from something so pointless. Sexting is very disturbing considering your exposing yourself to another person for their pleasure. I mean the government should not even present a bill against it but morals should come into play. Everyone should respect themselves enough to not do such an act. Girls just do it so guys will like them but they are loosing their self respect. If the guy really liked you he would not need exposed photos but just to like you for who you are. This also interacts with “A Brave New World” because all they do is having sex so young. Now in our culture we are starting to know of sex much younger in a different form called sexting.
I do not completely agree with passing this new legislature. For one, how would one get caught of sexting? Will our government go to the extreme and monitor every single photo message that is being sent?. This is highly unlikely. So the only way one could be caught if someone exposes the “sexter” to the law enforcement, and once people know they will do that they will delete the photos and that doesn’t stop it. I feel that if you send a picture you know very well what you are doing. It is not as if someone is very well “making” do something. It is a volunteering task. Also like teenagers always do, if they can’t do something, then they very well are going to do it. Our country is very close minded when it comes to things like this. We have to sent “rules” to many things like pornography, alcohol, and movies. If our country was more open like European countries, who feel the human body is a art and not something to fret about, then sexting would not be that big of a deal. Europe is like the book Brave New World, saying that human interaction and the body are not something that they feel have rules. If you want to have a love one meaning your gay or if they are over 18, then you should be allowed to have it. Like in the Brave New World, sex is a unavoidable subject and the more your regulate things the more chaos it creates. Overall, Sexting does not harm you if you don’t partake in it. If you do not like it then simply don’t do it.
Well to me sexting isn’t the biggest of our worries because if it is then are country isn’t doing a good job of taking care of the real issues. You rarely hear about anything bad happening to a person who sextes besides someone looking at their picture but, you always here about under aged drinking and the car accidents that occur. The drinking and the drugs led up to date rape and maybe even worse. But if your sober and decide to send a picture of whatever it maybe or say what it maybe then thats your business and personal information. Do I think it’s right…No, but it’s nobodies business on what someone wants to do with there body or say what they want to say or do with someone.
I think that this bill will help with a number of different things. I personally think that sexting is very stupid and immature. Really anyone with a brain would realize that once you send a picture like that out, there is no getting it back. It’s possible that it will end up on a website and your future employer finds it when you apply for a job. Anyways, I definitely think there needs to be a law against it. The point was made in the article that there is already way too much child porn on the web anyways for pedophiles. Who would want to contribute to that? If Huxley had included this in his book Brave New World, I think that he would have added it into another sexually oriented thing that was common and a day to day event. Maybe he would have girls sent pictures to men before they went out or something weird like that. This point would be brought out only to further show how these sexual things are degrading and hindering society, exactly what this bill/law is trying to prevent. The point of the bill is to keep kids from hurting and degrading others and themselves. Anyone can see sex has become more prevalent in media today and we see how society has begun to suffer the consequences.
I agree with Tate Lewis, we are all human beings so we all make mistakes. Especially the young human beings that do stupid stuff like sexting, if they really do it, I do not agree that they have to care the sex offenders name with them at all. I think that Brave New World would be even worse if there were cellphones with cameras, I think that they would have pictures of anyone nude on the background. Since they do not even care with who they seep with why would they care who sees them nude or not. Also I am afraid that our society would take a wrong road down to like a Brave New World society so hopefully this bill will pass and stop sexting.
I think that sexting is a shameful thing for anyone to do but I do not think that there is much that we can do about it without seriously invading people’s privacy. I think that this proposed law is a fair attempt to crack down but how would this law be enforced? Would all the cell phones of teens be tapped into and monitored by the authorities? Or would teens fess up and rat on their peers about the media content that is stored on their phone? I don’t see an effective way to regulate and enforce this law. If there are adults monitoring the phones for sexting, would they then be accused of viewing child pornography? I think that the state of Arizona has bigger concerns to worry about than that of what teens do with their phones that their parents provide to them. Don’t get me wrong, this is a problem and it has gotten to be out of hand but I think that the best way to solve this is to teach teens to have more respect for their bodies and their reputations. I think that this would be perfectly ok in a Brave New World type of society where sexual freedom is all around. Young children are taught to play erotic games with one another and multiple partners is encouraged. I am positive that sexting would be encouraged in this type of society.
I feel that it was a good decision by the Arizona State Legislature to pass a bill banning sexting. Sexting is inappropriate and immature. When minors start sending out explicit pictures of them it can get out of hand quickly. If these children are punished for it than it might wake their parents up to what their children are doing. My only concern is how the government can monitor what pictures are being sent between people without invading the privacy of Arizona citizens. However, with or without this law I feel we are taking a small step towards a society like the one portrayed in Brave New World. With this law our government is going to be monitoring what personal activities we take part in. Without this bill we are freely allowing children to participate in a sexual activity. Even though it is not encouraged like in Brave New World it is still saying that it is okay.
I think this bill is a great idea but with a hopeless future. For one reason, how would authorities be able to track kids down and find it? To be able to search someones electronics you either must have probable cause, which an officer could only get if you were foolishly waving the pictures around on your phone, or obtain a search warrant which requires a lawyer to show a judge that they have probable cause to search the item. I believe instead that legislation needs to be passed that makes schools put in a curriculum of showing how hurtful and disgusting sexting really is, just like how schools do today with STD’s. Maybe include it into health class and show videos of how bad the embarrassment of naked pictures of yourself being shown to multiple people is. Personally I believe sexting is incredibly disgusting and only should be allowed between a married couple. I am sure in ‘Brave New World’ pictures would be rampant and porn magazines and sexting would be as common to them as how ‘People’ magazine and regular texting is to us today. But in our world we must try to prevent this ‘sexting’ as best we can. First we could all prevent ourselves from ever doing it, then we can encourage our friends to never participate, and finally, and most importantly, we teach our kids to stay away from it forever.
I do think that having a ban on sexting is a good idea, however i don’t think that it can really be applied in a way that does not take away from people’s privacy. How can the government really find offenders without taping phone lines or even just going trough someone’s personal phone. I think that this law shouldn’t be passed, not because I think everyone should be sexting, but because I don’t think that there is a reasonable way to monitor it without taking away personal liberties and without moving towards a more controlling government. In that way the law would be like “Brave New World,” where everyone really has to behave or do things the same way as everyone else. But it is different in that in the book they would probably encourage sexting.
I believe this new law that is supposed to stop “sexting” is not going to work and is a waste. If people want to put their nude bodies out there for others to see then it is their problem and they should have thought of that before they sent out the picture. This law really wont stop anyone either as people break other strict laws already in place that prohibit alcohol and drugs.If this was Brave New World this whole thing wouldn’t even be an issue as in BTW they have sex all the time and they don’t care who sees them nude.
I think that sexting isn’t right but I don’t really think that a law trying to stop it is going to help. This day and age teenagers do as many things as they can that they can get away with. All that I think we can do is inform people the dangers of sexting and how quickly sex pictures of yourself can spread if you make the decision to send them to someone. I do feel in some cases punisments for becoming a sex offender due to sexting scandals. But do i feel bad for them? No. They must live with their choices to be a bad person and spread the pictures around.In relation to Brave New World sexting would be a great thing in the eyes of their citizens. Their sex lives are completely opposites of the real world. They are encouraged to sleep around all the time and never settle down and sexting would make it even easier to do so.
I have had time to think whether or not I agree with bill or not, I’ve come to the conclusion that I only agree with some parts of the bill. I agree with how if a minor is caught with child pornography that will suffer the consequence of their crime, but will not be seen as sex offender for life. I think that punishment is too harsh especially when you could have gotten the information on accident, like say a friend forwarded a nude picture to you and you opened without knowing that you were going to get a nude picture. I think that our government gives way to harsh penalties for such things that really aren’t that bad of crimes. Just like in the book Brave New World except they are punished for not having sexual relationships with multiple people. Though when someone like Bernard (A character in the book) is caught for not following their governments laws of have taking drugs and have sexual relationships he is supposed to be exiled to Ice Land for his punishment. They see him as an outsider of their so called “perfect government” that they try to shut him out so they can keep there controlling way of society. Imagine if you got caught with child pornography on accident and were filed as a sex offender for life, a little extreme right? Though I don’t agree with the complete banning of sexting and only for one reason, privacy. Everyone needs personal space, if this law was enforced it would mean that your e-mail and texting would have zero privacy at all times. This would also cost our government even more money in the horrible economy we’re in right now. We would need people to be viewing all these possible child pornography text and would need to have law enforcement to take them down. I’ll honestly say that if a girl ever sent me a sexual picture, I’d probably wouldn’t turn it down, but does that really make me such a horrible person for viewing a picture? Maybe if I sent it to my entire school to view or perhaps put her under pressure to send it to me then ya I would say that would not be acceptable. Though if she sends it to me with me even asking, in any way possible how does that make look like the bad guy? So if I had to make a yes or no answer on this bill I would say no, if people want to be sexting, I really don’t care because it’s none of my business and it doesn’t affect me in any way. Now if people were advertising sexual pictures or maybe a kid at my school was asking me if I wanted to give a few dollars for a sexual picture, then that’s when I would have to agree with the bill.
I believe hat this bill being passed is a good idea because it will lower the rate of teens sexting tremendously. You have one name in your life and by sexting you give up your uniqueness and something that makes you special but by sexting you give yourself a bad reputation. In the book BNW they have sex with everyone and with whoever it doesnt not mater to them and sex means nothing to them. Sexting is almost the samething people do it not thinking about what they are doing and dont realize that they are doing something stupid that they cant take back. Sexting is also like sex in BNW because it means nothing to the people do it.
I think that sexting is very innapropriate and that the government is making an action as to minimize child pornography. Sure a misdemeanor sounds like a reasonable punishment for this crime, but wouldn’t this bill be tarnishing our first amendment rights? Invading the privacy of ones personal property seems a little unlawful and would be a stepping stone in the act to take away our freedom. If cell phones exsisted in the time of “Brave New World”, sexting would be seen as normal act because kids are conditioned to play with eachother in very erotic ways. Sending pictures to eachother would not be any different since everyone in the society has no moral. If our government did not try to impose this law now, our society might as well turn into Huxley’s book.
To some sexting is sexual abuse and should be forbidden, and to others it is nothing just another text message. The legislature want to crack down on teens inappropriate sharing of sexually through texting but they are forgetting that this is there own decision to send and share personal photos and comments. A child who wishs to make this mistake shale not have to suffer through federal punishment. Laws dont help keep many laws from being broken what makes them think that this law awaitng to be passed will change there decision on weather to send the picture or not. There must be nothing going though the sexting persons mind when they are sending these pictures and commentsto eachother but there is nothing going through the mind of the people from brave new world when they are laying with new people alomost everyday. So they people sexting are just like the people from brave new world they are showing there body to the world and everyone could see it if they get the chance. Sexters probably do it just as much as the soma it taken.
I agree that this bill should become a law because it’s a really important matter not just in America but all around the world. The minors that are participating in this sexting obviously don’t have a shred of self respect for them selves. It’s showing that there like school a Saturday no class. But I do think that the whole labeling as sex offender is really not necessary, because that would mean trouble in the future. I do agree that the sex offender as they want to call it should be punished but maybe the parents should come up with that, or at least compromise with the government on something that seems reasonable. Some one once told me that minors have no rights until adult hood. I don’t know whether that’s true or not but I think that a least so rights should be given to every one whether there young or old. My question is how they are going to search and see what’s on whose phone, would the government or the parent just be given the right, but that would basically be destroying the right of privacy wouldn’t it. Id like to see how this works if it does become a law.
Im kinda torn on this subject. I do beleive that sexting is something minors should not be doing but i also beleive in privacy. This bill would also help get rid of all the sex ofenders and creeps out there. The only problem with this bill is it would be going totally against our first amendment rights. If their was phones in the book Brave New World these actions would be totally normal because the kids were taught to do erotic things, so sending pictures would be a everyday thing in the Brave New World. If this continues without the government doing anything our society could be turning into the society of the Brave New World. In conclusion i beleive sexting is wrong and something should be done but without restricting our 1st amendment.
I think this bill is a great idea. Children are exposed to enough explicit material at tender ages as it is through TV, music, movies, magazines and around their schools. It is extremely dangerous for sexual exploitation to come to their own personal electronic devices. Something needs to be done to stop this fad before it spreads to younger ages, as younger and younger kids are obtaining cell phones each year. It would be a shame to see this fad climb down the age groups and have new cell phone users in the future think this is ok. Because of the impersonal nature, children would be more likely to engage in sexual exploits through this medium rather than in person. Someone who is not mature enough to understand any kind of sexuality would not likely engage in anything relating to sex in their everyday lives, but the exposure of sex through this impersonal and seemingly “safe” medium could spike curiosity at an unnecessary age. Life is happening fast enough as it is and children are being forced to grow up faster with every generation. We should preserve the innocence of childhood as long as possible, there is no need to trouble 5th graders with worldwide reputations as child porn stars. This bill would help prevent a terrifying possibility that is exemplified in A Brave New World. The possibility that sex will become as normal as kick ball and tag for a child. The possibility that they will engage in such things before ever realizing the effects they could endure mentally when they understand what they have done. They will have had so many “relationships” before understanding the importance of building a loving connection and trust, they may possibly forget about love altogether. By the time they are wanting a partner in life they will have so little comprehension of love that they will not feel the need for or recognize it. Not to mention the child would not be exploring interests which could propel their life into success such as music, art, literature or science. We forget in this age the importance of family and moral integrity. People lose respect for themselves and treat their bodies as things, which allows others to treat them as if they themselves were a thing. This is not the kind of attitude we want to encourage in our children and grandchildren. I believe that this bill is a wonderful step in restoring our society to one that is respectful, intellectually rewarding, moral, and one which instills good family values from a young age.
Sexting these days is everywhere. Its just started with one or two photos. Now its goin on in every classroom and school with young adults. This is a very interesting subject because it debates what the goverment can do in someones private life. A person convicted of this proposed charge would get a misdemeanor. But this also has the light at the end of the tunnel. This would be a diffrent opption to give to minors instead of labeling them a sex offender and putting them on a list which stays with you for multiple years. This article relates to the book Brave New World in the idea that everyone is apart of everyone. Sending nude pictures these days is like saying hello to everyone in your class. It happens everyday. Not how it should be a in a closed realationship. In Brave New World everyone has sex with everyone else without any emotional connections. This is how it is starting to look in highschools around the country.
i agree with this law that they are trying to pass because this will help stop Grown men from trying to get inappropriate pictures from underage girls. But I don’t agree with becoming a registered sex offender it you are caught. Because kids my age do make mistakes and that would suck to have that on you for the rest of your life cause you messed up when you was a teenager. For the most part I do agree with this law but there are some things that I would change to make it better
I think it’s a good idea but then again I think people and teens should be free to do whatever they want with their phone. Yeah it’d be nice to stop the creepy grown men from sending pics and videos to younger girls..or boys…but they shouldn’t have their numbers in the first place anyways!!! If you really think about it though teens are gonna keep sexting no matter what, a bill isn’t gonna stop them.
Sexing is a very popular with young adults. I personally think the bill is a good idea, but I don’t think they can enforce it. It is a major invasion of privacy. Pornography is found everywhere and some teenagers are just helping it spread. Sex is portrayed all through media including television and internet. Sex, is almost showed as a good thing. If somebody got punished with a misdemeanor with “sexing” I think it would crash to a halt. I think this because there would be a consequence to this action. But something as simple as this, a teenager should not be labeled as a “Sex Offender”! Something like this could be found in the Brave New World because at a young age children are taught sex is a great thing. The way their society is built sexing would be an average thing.
I thought it was a good idea by the Arizona State Legislature to pass a bill banning sexting. Sexting can be unfortunate depending on where it is taking place. Also when children’s under the age 18 get phones and sending wrong pictures out it can spread out fast. So if they get in trouble for sending out pictures then the adults will realize what the children’s are doing and how they are affecting their life. The only thing that I will say is I don’t think it right for the government to be supervising what people are sending because it is privacy but they shouldn’t be sending thing like that anyways. Also I think that the government is trying to make a move and do what right like one has portrayed in Brave New World. Also having this law we will be watch by the government in our private actions we do. If we didn’t have this bill basically everyone any age is allow to be in sexual action. Also like it not positive in the Brave New World it basically said its right.
i think that this law is a good idea because teens are unaware of the disrepsect they are putting on themselves and the hurt they will face for the rest of their lives. also teens need to have some sort of punishment when doing this and being charged as a sex offender would be way to much. so the consequences they plan of having for the teens is good enough to punish them from this innappropriate behavior. i think that in brave new world this would be acceptable just because of how they are programmed to behave with everyone and how “everyone belongs to everyone”. this would probably be a popular thing for the people in brave new world.
I believe this law is a very good idea to stop young adults and future generations from becoming sex offenders, or having no dignity of their own bodies. Even though, people should also be taught at schools and homes to have self respect. If people want to have respect for their privacy, they must begging respecting themselves before expecting someone else to do it. I believe that this bill should become a law to stop teenagers from doing propaganda of their own bodies through photos. This sexting topic can be related to the book “Brave New World”, where children are encourage to be promiscuous though propaganda since they are little. Since this book is a satire I believe that the author, Aldous Huxley, was trying to explain that happiness does not came from this immoral act by making fun of how people in the World State believe it does.
Sexting is actually a bigger problem then most people think it is. Teens have committed suicide over these type of incidents. Something has to be done about it. This actually ties into statutory rape, minors should not be involved in sexual activity willing or not willing until the age of consent, sexting should be included. But i do agree with making the offense a misdemeanor, being labeled a sex offender is a little over the top if you are still a teenager yourself. But if this would require the government invading our privacy and searching through phones and etc, i dont support that. Only if reported i think these consequences should be enforced. The government trying to control its citizens would be just like Brave New World but at least sexual conduct wouldn’t be so out in the open like in the book. Sexting does need to be handled but not at the cost of total invasion of privacy.
Before, sex was a real problem on the internet. Now we have both the internet and cell phones. As the ars go by and they become cheaper and more casual, things that should be considered immoral aren’t appearing so out of bounds anymore. It only has to start with one or two people, who get an idea in their head, and then start spreading it out on public connections. There are people, adults and children, who are obsessed with sex, and now they have a device in the palm of their hand that allows them to send nude photos to anyone in the world. Perhaps it will not stop sexting completely, but this bill will help dramatically. Sexting may be fun for some, but if it were to be illegal, then perhaps it will become more of a risk than they’d like to take. But then again, cell phones are a person’s responsibility, and sexting is usually caused by flashing your phone number around carelessly. Kids make mistakes, and it may not be a good idea to mark them as a sex offender if they were to be caught. Teens are easily swayed.
The new legislation that has been passed sounds good in theory, but in practice it just does not work out. I agree punishments should be dished out to those who “chose” to particpate in sexting ,but those who are caught in the act are only a small paercentage of current offenders and are nothing more than to be made an example of. “Sexting” relates very closely to some of the ideals displayed in Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World”. In the book, sex, is a normal everyday activity. Almost as normal as going to the gym to excercise. The reason sex is considered to be so normal in the book is because the society itself adjusted to it over time. Much like how “sexting” today seems normal to some teens because they have become accustomed to it. Are we headed in the direction of “Brave New World” or is this just another fad that is doomed to fade away in the annuals of history?
I think it’s good that the government is trying to stop the spread of child pornography by putting such strict rules on “sexting” for minors. However, I also see it as an invasion of privacy. The only real solution to stop “sexting” among young people is to encourage parents to teach their kids that sending explicit photos can have terrible consequences. I say in agreement with whate Gabby said. Arizona legislation could pass a million bills on “sexting” but that still wouldn’t keep most teens from doing it. Young people just have to be taught that it’s wrong.
This topic definately relates to Brave New World. In the World State, people are encouraged to have more than one sexual partner. This is just like if a person were to send a nude picture of themselves. The person they sent the picture to will get it, but then they could send it to a bunch of different people.
In my personal opinion the passing of this bill would do great things in our modern society, in fact, I think greater measures should be taken to, in a sense, prevent child pornography. “Sexting” as it is being referred, is the work of sick, prosaic minded, self-degrading, and perverted individuals with an ever-developing yet putrescent thought pattern. It ends up showing just how infinitesimal the ability of self expression in modern day youth has gotten. What to some may seem harsh, in this occasion marking the disobedient as a sex offender, is just and deserved for such and any crime as it is not without warning. Extreme measures should be taken to prevent the spreading of this futile disease. Whatever rights are given unto man, and are abused, should be withdrawn and in their place a punishment and permanent mark should be placed. Universal education regarding this matter should be implemented and home teaching of the subject eminent. If drastic measures on this problem are not taken, our upcoming generation will be worse ten-fold and end up as an erotic nation based on principles of general promiscuity. A world similar to the one vividly depicted by Huxley in his book “A Brave New World”, where everyone is allowed and even expected to be of a sexual nature involving not only lust, but a kind of whoredom and harlot state of thought. I agree with this proposal in most ways, but I think the punishments are nowhere near strict enough. For severe infractions, severe penalties.
I suppose this bill is a good idea, but it is kind of sad that it even needs to be made. Why is this even an issue? If I understand it correctly, this all means that teens are too lazy talk directly to one another, and e-mail is too hard, and calling wastes too much breath, so we all decide to send word clippets to each other in order to communicate. Then, since we are teenagers, we have to incorporate sex in there somewhere. When did it become a good idea to send naked pictures of yourself to someone else? I guess some genius was just sitting there one day and said,”hey, I think I’ll take some pictures of myself and send them to people if for no other reason than to spice up the evening”. And then things got out of hand, as they always do, and now senators know about it. To make things better, they actually care! Why? Its just a buch of horny teenagers, but then again, it does gain the favor of the parents, and therefore, they get votes. We don’t need to change our laws, we need to change our legislative system. Until then, we’ll just all have to play the game.
Banning sexting wouldn’t matter to me because I don’t do it. If a guy and a girl do that then it’s a mutual thing between them. But if I had to choose what side to be on, I would choose to ban sexting because I see it as degrading to both women and men. You can threaten kids with many punishments, but it is not going to stop them it is only going to make them want to do it more. The same when it comes to alcohol it becomes a social-norm. Just like in Brave New World sex is a regular thing to them. There is nothing special about it, I can see how sexting could lead to sex in the real world as when ever you feel like it thing. For instance; reading a book you can pick it up when ever you want and read it. But in Brave New World they are conditioned to see it as a regular thing. In real life we know it’s a special thing and we should respect it and our selves.
Sexting can lead to various charges to sexual offenders. It allows the modern sex offender/predator a new window of oprotunity to interact with society’s youth (mostly young women). With this window open you give these offenders a wiff of youth and their ignornance of society’s vices and futhermore leave a stain or scar that would plague the future generations to come so I am for the new law that allows the government to track “Sexting” within our socitey and bring these offenders to justice.
The ban on “sexting” is a good idea, but I believe it will greatly reduce our privacy. How the government plans to go about finding the offenders without making a controversial mess is going to be tricky. I think though that if the law is passed “sexting” would increase because more teens would have the thrill of getting away with something illegal. In a sense this topic applies to the book “Brave New World” because the society is conditioned that everyone belongs to everyone and encourages promiscuity. In our society it seems as if people are encouraging promiscuity and encouraging “sexting”. There are pros and cons to bill but I believe it would be best passed.
I don’t care what people say or do when texting, just don’t send me one. It should be private between two individuals. I think people are blowing this sexting all out of proportion. Most young kids think it is harmless. Sexting is not something I would be involved with, if I had something to say I would say it in person, not text it. I really think it is just a fad and will pass. Too much attention paid only makes kids want to do it more.
i think it is a good idea to do this because young teenagers alot of the time do not know what they are doing and send dirty pictures to one another for fun or pleasure or whatever. they take the other persons word that they will keep the picture a secret which most of the time is not the case. these pictures can get out and get in the hands of the wrong people and the person can get in trouble, embarrassed, or harrased. it can also get into the hands of perverts who distribute child porn and that is just wrong and then people are looking at jail time and all that. in the brave new world i dont think sexting would be a big deal because people are encouraged to be saexually active at a young age. they might not even do it at all because they dont need pictures they can have the real thing whenever they want. it is illeagal in real life because our society frowns upon sex at a young age or before marrige and also because of perverts and immature people and because in real life teens can not handle that level or responsibility because they can easily catch STDs or become pregnate at a too young age. however in the brave new world there are hardly any bad things that can happen from sex and it is fun and feels good so why not?
I believe this law might be too harsh. Labeling teenagers as sex offenders is a little over the top. I do not agree with sexting and I side with Lauren’s comment. It really shows a lack of selfrespect. I feel as if sending these photos is a personal choice that the government should not get invloved in unless a certain situation calls for it. Although I do believe the government should be allowed to put laws down against sexting, I just do not think they can do it without going overboard.
Personally i think the effort of tryin to make this law is a complete waste of time for the legislation. People need not to be so willfully giving of their own explicit photographs. Unless you have absolute trust for the person you are sending these pictures too in my personal opinion i would advice to not send any sort of picture like that. This correlates to brave new world in my opinion though because people are willingly giving themselves up in picture form. This is what people in BNW do only in physically.
-Jorge Chavira
I agree with passing a bill to punish minors who send pornographic pictures or “sexting”. By doing this we can close that window to sex offenders and sex predators and also, hopefully, teach young adults to respect themselves more and not put nude pictures of themselves for other people to see. I agree with both Carlos and Ben had to say on the matter. You can banned “sexting” but in the end people will still do “sexting” even with a law passed. With this kind of law passed. It gives the government the right to invade your privacy. That’s one thing that i don’t like. It gives the government more control over your freedoms. Just like in the book Brave New World; society has already predestined you and also controls what you do, and what you don’t do. All in all i think it would be interesting to see how affective this bill will be, if it is passed.
I believe current legislation on this issue is extremely idiotic as none of it is geared towards these new cases of “sexting”. I believe it is very alarming that teenagers committing this act get lumped together with pedophiles and child rapists in the sex offender category. In the case of sexting, when labeled a sex offender, the tag does not go away until that person is in their forties. This is ridiculous and ruins the lives of those children that made a simple mistake. A person labeled a sex offender can be kicked out of school, refused jobs, and cannot be in places frequented by children. They must go to classes with other sex offenders where the real ones talk about their sexual urges for children and how that can be cured. That is not someplace a teenager should be. Sex offenders must notify all neighbors when moving to an area and all their personal information is up on a website for everyone to see. A mistake a child makes when he is young should not effect him for the rest of his life. I believe in punishment for these offenses, but the sex offender label is appalling.
Personally, I think it is a good thing that the Arizona State Legislature is deciding to finally crack down after all this time. Today “sexting” is such an issue. I feel that “sexting” is tacky and distasteful, and I am very surprised that only 25% admitted to saying they had. I thought it would be alot more! My sister has told me that 7th grade girls in her junior high have been suspended because the school found out that they had sent inappropriate pictures to young boys. I think it has definetly become a major problem that has been overlooked for far too long – this is why minors think it is okay. I am not sure a misdemeanor would do justice though. I think more should be done than just that. Maybe some sort of action taken by the school, or even some type of community service or sexting convention / assembly where they are taught the real dangers of sexting now and in the future. Sexting could lead to much worse things for children who do not know the difference between that and porn.
The Arizona State legislature is absolutely right when it comes to sexting by stating that it is wrong and the state needs to take action. I also believe that it is wrong, because not only does it violate a minor’s personal life, but it also embarrasses the person if it is brought up on the minor’s record as a misdemeanor. Also, I wouldn’t go as far as being labeled a sex offender, because the nude minors are either on phone or internet, but not nude in person and with that should not be labeled as sex offender.
I think that this whole law over sexting thing is stupid. If someone wants to send a pic of themselves naked then that’s their choice. Now that person should also take into consideration who there sending to. If it’s a person you know will be dumb and show someone else then don’t send it simple as that. Not to be harsh but i feel that girls should be smarter when doing stuff like that. If you are really scared of it getting out then don’t take the picture in the first place. The Arizona State Legislature is trying to get into everybody’s business is just pointless. I honestly don’t see anyone complaining about sexting unless they’re the girl who got her pictures spread around but that just goes back to being smarter about stuff. This relates to Brave New World because in Brave New World the government is trying to control everything and it seems like now the government is starting to get to that point where they are even trying to tell us how to spend our free time.
Tacking naked picters of your fellow students is disgusting and rong. I think this law would be a good idea if it were so easy but stoping all sexwelly active teen from tacking naked photos of echother is not possible. these law will only stop one of evry thosand teens from taking nake photos and if it wont male any good resultit is not wereth it.
I agree that sexting should be banned. It ultimately can violate the life of a young adult. While they think that only one person may be getting the text, that person forwards it to people, and they forward it, and it’s a non-stop cycle. I do not think that the teens should be given a misdemeanor over this crime unless it is a habitual offense by a person. I think that being labeled a sex offender would be too harsh of a punishment for this case. However, I do not agree with this law if it includes the government being able to just look at whatever texts you have without any suspicion.
I think it is good that arizona state legislatures are cracking down on “sexting”. I don’t think a minor should be labeled as a sex offender, that is to harsh of a punishment.They can take other acions such as classes that discuss the dangers of “sexting”. “Sexting” is similar to Brave New World because I think it is a much more safe way of doing what they are doing in BNW. I think “sexting” happens just as much as people have sex in BNW.
I would have to agree with the state, under age teens should be punished for their explict behavior. this new generation of young teenagers believe it is okay to do these kinds of activites not thinking about the consquences of the future every one can be shown any items of a text, pictures, and video. just like in a brave new world, the world state never saw a problem with everyone belonging to everyone, but the savage and us older teens see a huge problem with this, they just don’t see the potential trouble they could get into by doing this. and that is why i would agree that the teens should be punished for underage sexting.
My viws on sexting are that i think its personally wrong. You shouldnt be takeing pictures of your naked body parts and be sending it over the phone or email to someone else. Thats pretty much porn in my book. Though limiting the punishment for minors is better because kids are going to be dumb and do dumb things. Also that they are never gonna learn.
I do agree what the state Legislation is trying to do and pass. There are many teens out there that sex text but some you may not know may be sex offender or stakers who are trying to do damage. Must teens these day are just wanting to send pictures of themselves just to be put out there. I think by banding this there would be less problems in the world. Like for example less sexual assults and rapes. Just like in the Brave New World were Linda tries to have sex with John and ends up dying because John doesnt like whore. She was also puttng her body out but ended up dying.
I think banning sexting is a good idea, but people are still going to continue to do it. A lot of teenagers are going to think they can send pictures and get away with it. They may think they will never get caught. Even though when you send pictures out to people you are taking a huge risk other people are going to see what you sent, but a lot of people don’t think about that, they think the person won’t show anyone but in reality they might. In the book Brave New World, they do not have any emotional ties to anything such as sex, and having sex very young is ok in the book they don’t know any better because that is what they are taught to engage in sexual play.
To most teenagers ’sexting’ is not that big of a deal, its more of a text message trying to express yourself. But, what if you were texting a 32 year old sex offender man claiming to be an 18 year old guy you met over facebook? You may never know, and there is so many oblivious girls out there which is why I think this bill should be passed and taken more seriously. The majority of teenagers and young adults need to start respecting themselves, but the only problem with the bill is it has some restrictions to the first amendment. Since cell phones are so popular, and pretty much glued to most teenagers hands, think if they had them back then, or more even in the book “Brave New World”. If the society in “Brave New World” had phones it would be another teaching to the children like elementary sex, and it would be an ordinary and normal thing to do to be ’sexting’ everybody just like laying with new people everyday since no one belongs to anyone specifically. Also if people in “Brave New World” did not ’sext’ they would be known as an outsider like Bernard for not being a follower and doing what you want to do as an individual. So yes, I do think government should take charge and take away child pornography without taking away our freedom. I think it would be a bill that might be hard to pass, and difficult for most young adults and teenagers to follow, but the bill would make a huge difference in our society and community and change our generation that is falling apart day by day.