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Sexting: Case of 14-Year-Old Girl Provides Cautionary Tale to Share With Teens
Filed under: In The News
Do you know what your teens are texting? Credit: Getty Images
"Oh, life is a glorious cycle of song, a medley of extemporanea. And love is a thing that can never go wrong ... and I am Marie of Romania." -- Dorothy Parker
Love is forever when you're a teenager. And the one you love would never, ever hurt you.
Margarite believed that. You might want to share her tale with your teenager.
As told by The New York Times, the 14-year-old Washington state resident took a full frontal nude photo of herself and sent it by cellphone to her boyfriend, Isaiah. It was supposed to be private, just between the two of them.
Any adults in the audience not know where this is heading?
That's right. Not only did Margarite and Isaiah break up, but Isaiah promptly betrayed Margarite's trust by forwarding the naked photo to another eighth-grade girl who -- guess what? -- spread it all over hell and gone. And just to make sure Margarite stays hip-deep in therapy bills, the photo was stamped, "Ho Alert!"
Recipients were urged to spread the photo even further into the known universe. And, being kids with the intellectual capacity (not to mention emotional sensitivity) of canned cling peaches, they obliged.
Of course, spreading naked pictures of 14-year-old girls is a no-no. The Times reports three kids soon found themselves in handcuffs while adults in Washington state and beyond found themselves wondering what can be done about this bizarre phenomenon of sending sexually explicit photos, videos or text messages between cellphones.
In a word: "sexting."
It's a hard problem to tackle. As The Times points out, kids have pitifully easy access to all sorts of technology and are growing up in the wake of the sexual revolution where you can't pass a magazine stand without seeing all-but-naked women displayed as pieces of meat for hungry wolves.
Besides, until things go horribly wrong, teens think sexting is cool.
"Having a naked picture of your significant other on your cellphone is an advertisement that you're sexually active to a degree that gives you status," Rick Peters, a senior deputy prosecuting attorney for Thurston County in Washington state, tells the newspaper. "It's an electronic hickey."
Naturally, things have an uncanny knack for going horribly wrong.
Again, take Margarite.
The Times reports she was going through a dark period in 2009. Among a lot of other things, she lost a good friend. Well, maybe the friend wasn't all that good. This was the same girl who would later spread the naked photo of Margarite.
Margarite's school principal confiscated cellphones and spent hours speaking with parents frantic about their children being arrested.
Only three students ended up being taken into custody. Peters decided against charging Margarite herself, but charged three other students with dissemination of child pornography, a Class C felony. He chose to prosecute those kids, he tells The Times, because they were primarily responsible for the photo going viral.
One of them was Isaiah.
Peters tells The Times if the photo never made it beyond Margarite and Isaiah, he would have called the parents but not pressed any charges. Case closed.
"The idea of forwarding that picture was bad enough," he tells The Times. "But the text elevated it to something far more serious. It was mean-girl drama, an all-out attempt to destroy someone without thinking about the implications."
So, after school, police read Isaiah his rights, cuffed his hands behind his back and led him and Margarite's former friend out of their middle school. They had just won a night in juvie along with a 13-year-old girl who also helped spread the photo.
"I didn't know it was against the law," Isaiah tells The Times.
It's not -- between consenting adults. Kids, however, are another matter.
But do they get that message, The Times asks, when actress Megan Fox is shown in a Motorola commercial taking a picture of herself with a cellphone while she's in the tub and cooing, "I wonder what would happen if I were to send this out?"
The three defendants got off light. Peters tells The Times he never wanted to punish them, just scare the hell out of them. They ended up doing community service -- creating public service material on the dangers of sexting.
As for Margarite, she has become a walking cautionary tale for parents to share with their kids. The Times asked her what would she would tell other teens.
"I guess if they are about to send a picture, and they have a feeling, like, they're not sure they should, then don't do it at all," she tells The Times. "I mean, what are you thinking? It's freaking stupid!"
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 4)
3-29-2011 @ 2:15PM
mike hylton said...i think it's funny as hell, all these so called super smart kids, the future of america, sending these pics out and sorry while not the internet it's just a single klik away,then being so concerned and upset about it, there is gonna be thousands of kids who in several years find their hopes of a job or promotion being harned by something the did as a teen, what you do today will bite you in the ass in the future, pics will be used against you and it's YOUR FAULT SO QUIT COMPLAINING, conduct yourself in a responsible way, and please spare me the kids will be kids bull crap they deserve what they get
3-29-2011 @ 9:13AM
maryyy said...Hey moron, The girl did not put a picture of herself on the internet.
Maybe you should have someone read the article to you and they can explain what the words mean. Obviously, you're not bright enough.
Reply
3-29-2011 @ 9:21AM
Tina said...Not at all what the article was about....you have the same mindset as the kids who forward stupid stuff without thinking. READ the article and try again!
Reply
3-29-2011 @ 10:26AM
soread said...HA! HA ! Or a Ho in this case . Pls a just between them pic. Stupid and the one spreading it via HO! Alert cut it to the quick. GOOD job. So, a whore puts a picture of herself on the internet, who gives a crap?
Nuff said took a nude /full self. She got what she had coming period.
Reply
3-29-2011 @ 10:30AM
M.A. Korman said...I think Margarite should have been arrested as well since she started this mess.
Too bad the court has to do what parents won't such as teaching their children what is acceptable and what is not.
Reply
3-29-2011 @ 11:28AM
john said...how could a child be expected to respect themselves when you have something like SNOOKIE walking around on tv with her boobs n butt hanging out getting in fights and drinking and being drunk in public ? a teen girl or guy sees that and thinks it is acceptable to do the same
sexting is just taking the lack of respect for ourselves and others to the next level we as adults need to take back what is tought to our children
i was a teen ager in the 60's durung that whole sex drugs n rock n roll era free love and flower power were the game back then and (I) WE never thought of doing things like that !!
3-29-2011 @ 3:13PM
me said...Our school had a case of "sexting" and both the girl who took the picture and the boy who forwarded it were taken to the juvenile center. She sent the picture to the boy and invited him to come to her house after school. He accepted and then forwarded it to as many people as possible, who forwarded it, and so on. Several kids (including mine) told their parents about the situation who alerted the principal. These kids were in the 6th grade!
3-29-2011 @ 10:31AM
billy112140 said...So you think all silly teenagers who do stupid things like sending a picture to who she thinks she can "trust" is a whore? I wonder what you did as a teen.
Reply
3-29-2011 @ 11:25AM
pd39 said...But ... but ... but ...
For the last 60 years YOU have been telling everybody how "free" you are, how "it's your body and you'll do what you want with it," and "you are not part of your parents generation."
This is a direct result of what YOU began 60 years ago. Now YOU are YOUR parent, and your kids will pay the price of your immorality.
So, the question is, "Who you gonna call?"
The answer sure as hell ain't Ghostbusters!
You need to talk to your pastor. Read your bible. Get back to God. If you don't, if you don't bring some order and discipline into your own and your kids lives, your future will collapse all around you.
There are only 10 basic rules. Obey them and life is good.
Find God, find peace.
Reply
3-29-2011 @ 2:01PM
Nanci Biebighauser said...I agree that a strong relationship with God changes lives, but many of these kids have never been exposed to faith. What they HAVE been exposed to is their parents. When will people wake up and realize that being a parent carries inherent obligations, the first of which is teaching our children to be honest, moral human beings. I fear for young people in this "anything goes" age. Our "entertainment" is trash, many of the songs the kids listen to are explicit and vulgar, and bad behavior is not even noticed. We, as a nation, are morally bankrupt, and I shudder to think about what God might think. His tears are enough to fill the oceans, I am sure.
3-29-2011 @ 5:14PM
Jane said...This is 2011. Preaching old time gospel isn't going to change the way things are. In fact, a lot of kids with religion crammed down their throats rebel. I've seen enough of that when I was in school. Get back to reality. Yeah, talk to your pastor and listen to the "you'll burn in hell" crap. If you want your kids to do more of the wrong things, let them hear that a few times.
3-29-2011 @ 7:59PM
fymayawf said...My grandson's biological father is a preacher's son. He's a scumbag, deadbeat dad and has never paid any child support or made any effort to be a dad. I'm guessing he got plenty of "exposure" to the bible and god. Got any more great ideas?
3-29-2011 @ 8:22PM
chris said...To the but but but...person. Where were you during the last 60 years? On Mars?, lock up?, just why would you exclude yourself from the last 60 years? Jeesh get a life!
3-29-2011 @ 10:37AM
Gia said...I wish it were still the 70's, before all the technology.
Reply
3-29-2011 @ 3:29PM
van said...So do I!
3-29-2011 @ 10:39AM
Mom said...What a sad story about these kids.
Let this be a lesson to parnet that allow their children to have a cellphone. Parents need to educate their kids about the consquences of what is sent over the phone or internet. Kids need to know that anything one puts out there for someone else to see or read could be read or viewed by others.
Margarite did not deserve this harsh treatment, but she is responsible for this happening to herself. Even if she didn't know her boyfriend would betray her, she learned the hard way.
Reply
3-29-2011 @ 10:43AM
Angiebaby said...I think the real problem here is teenagers with technology they don't have the common sense or life experience to handle. I cannot think of any reason whatsoever a teenager needs a personal cell phone for anything other than an emergency. But even if you provide your child with a cell phone, they sure as hell don't need a phone that allows videostreaming, Internet access, image capabilities or texting. Teenagers think they know everything, but know so little. With privilege comes responsibility, and a phone that does everything carries phenomenal responsibility... from kids who can't find their shoes in the morning and, more often than not, think with their hormones.
It's true teenagers think everything is love. They have nothing to compare it to. If you are with somebody and it's fun, special and makes you feel good, then, "Oh, THIS must be love!" But a few months later, you know it's not. It takes time and experience to know what love is. And as always, sometimes to know what something is, you first have to learn what it is not. During this time of emotional growth and turmoil, the teenage years, why would you give your teen a machine that allows them to make trouble for themselves? A cell phone is just as dangerous as a car to an inexperienced driver, but from an emotional standpoint.
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3-29-2011 @ 10:57AM
Watchful Dad said...That is why you give your daughter or son a phone with NO internet...you CAN block that stuff...as a parent, it is UP TO YOU to parent your child. The same reason you dont allow your 14 or 15 year old girl or son for that matter, to go to the club where they serve alcohol. Technology gone awry...but that girl got what she wanted...attention.
Reply
3-29-2011 @ 10:56AM
pandabear0423 said...My question is this.. Where the hell are the parents when this is happening? Parents need to get a clue. If you give your kids a cell phone where something like this can happen, then as parent you need to do your job and protect your child. That means, setting limits, reading texts if needed, hell, call your cell phone provider and not allow your child to send or receive texts. Who cares if your child gets mad at you for it. You are their PARENT for Christ sake. NOT their friend.
Reply
3-29-2011 @ 11:05AM
Willie McMillie said...Smoking crack