“Sexting” seen as a cultural issue, says psychologist

Ihave this theory about humanity's demise at the hands of technology.

The end doesn't come with a Terminator time-traveling to assassinate the leader of the human resistance. Why would machines need to purge humanity? We're doing a fine job of that ourselves.

We surf the Internet instead of interacting. We text instead of phoning. We chat online rather than talking face to face.

And now, we send sexually provocative images of ourselves or friends through our cell phones and computers.

Dr. Susan Lipkins, a New York-based child and adolescent psychologist, said in an interview yesterday that 66 percent of the people she had surveyed recently had "sexted" at least once.

"What used to be in high school a couple of years ago is now in middle school and moving down to elementary school," said Lipkins, who has appeared on "The Oprah Winfrey Show."

On Tuesday, Henrico County Commonwealth's Attorney Wade Kizer said he does not intend to bring child-pornography charges against Moody Middle School students for sending nude pictures of themselves on their cell phones.

Students in other places have not been so lucky.

"That is clearly not the intent of such laws and is an alarmingly harsh way of dealing with stupid, but clearly not illegal, actions on the part of students," said Kent Willis, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia.

"We know of no law preventing someone from sending a photo of himself or herself to someone else. In fact, if there were a law, it may infringe on First Amendment rights, depending on the circumstances," Willis said.

But the real issue is what happens after the picture is distributed, he said. A recipient would be wise to erase the picture, lest he or she be prosecuted for being in possession of child pornography, Willis said. "Worse still would be to send the picture on to someone else once you have received it. That could constitute distribution of child pornography."

Kids who make or distribute suggestive pictures of themselves should know that "while they will likely avoid legal trouble so long as prosecutors remain rational about this, they could get others into very serious trouble, including the loved one with whom they are sharing the picture," Willis said.

Lipkins says a simple preventive step would be a screen on the cell phone asking whether you want to delete an image before forwarding it. Preventive research shows that steps making an action more difficult tend to decrease risky behavior, she said.

In the meantime, there's no cause for panic over sexting, she said. "I don't think it's a legal issue. I think it's a cultural issue. And laws are not going to change the culture."

Instead, education, or perhaps therapy, should be the response to sexting, especially for children, she said.

Lipkins said we're in the midst of a sexual evolution in which young people look at sex, privacy, the ownership of images and the nature of relationships in a different way than their elders.

Unfortunately, when it comes to the objectification of the human body, it appears the kids are quite old-school.

A war on sexting is no more likely to be successful than our campaigns against drugs or sex. Education, not prosecution, is the key to surviving this evolution of technology. That, and clinging to our dignity and humanity.

Contact Michael Paul Williams at (804) 649-6815 or .