Maureen Kanka helped to enact & pass "Megan's Law" (1996), which was named after her 7-year-old daughter who was raped & killed by a twice-convicted sex offender living nearby. Now authorities in Pennsylvania are threatening to prosecute three teenage girls after it was discovered they had very risque
images of them on a cell phone.
An Indiana boy currently faces obscenity charges for sending naked photos of himself to female friends & classmates. And last week in Passaic County (NJ) authorities accused a 14-year-old girl of distributing child pornography when she posted naked photos of herself on HER MySpace page.
Megan's law was enacted to protect minors from sexual predators with stiffer penalties & a requirement to be registered as a sex offender. I'm not so sure it was enacted to protect minors from THEMSELVES! Sure what they did was foolish & stupid, but should they be formally charged- especially with a law that's supposed to keep them safe?
If they are going to be punished it should be by the kid's parents or guardians. Of course they'll have to endure the embarrassment & shame among their peers, friends, & family as well.
Although I must admit, sadly some of them probably don't even care who sees the photos. It's probably best to look outside the law, & take a good look at their home environment. Whose to say who's to blame. It's rarely just one thing. I'd start by taking a good look at the parents.
How does this make you feel? What do you think? Please share your comments with FLAST.
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7 comments:
"threatening to prosecute three teenage girls after it was discovered they had very risque
images of them on a cell phone." Each girl had naked pics of her own self?
I honestly don't know, but can they be their own victims, or are they both predator & victim. I'd say neither. I'd say just foolish & immature. People tend to reap what they sew.
Bleh... reminds me of high-school. This one girl (who had a baby at 16 or 17) sent naked photos of herself on her cell phone to fellow classmates... She was suspended and charged and etc...
She later appeared on Judge Judy (saw the episode... even though I prefer Judge Joe Brown) for something relating to her child... She won the case (if only Judy knew...)
Now something un-related, this Aquila kid was caught (on his 18th birthday) selling a large ammount of ecstacy and carrying a gun (thankfully not in school). He served some jail time and his bond was set at over a million dollars.
He's out of jail now...
WONDERFUL highschool I went to, no?
*not "bleh" to the story, by the way. "Bleh" to the 3 moronic teenage girls*
This is not just the fault of lazy parenting but of a society that cannot, or will not, control the questionable, suggestive and sometimes lurid content that streams across the internet and tv (e.g., ED drug commercials and "Girls gone Wild" to name but two).
These kids don't care what others think of them; have no concept of modesty, and think fowl language is a necessary form of communication. I don't beleive that they are ashamed or embarrassed. It's scary.
But if the content of their photos is available in the public domain, then, as lame as it sounds, there must be some legal "answering to."
That was some prison...er, I mean high school you went to. Sounds like there was quite a bit of riff-raff, along w/some colorful characters! Not only did you make it out w/your diploma, but w/your life as well! :-{
As ALWAYS Tia, your keen insights show well beyond your youthful age!
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