The naked truth

It starts innocently. A conversation with someone you are interested in. Slowly, it turns to flirting. The flirting gets more and more intense until someone pops the question:

“Nudes?”

Nudes are pictures people send to one another of them not wearing clothes. The action is simple enough and people do it all the time; the only thing they have to do is pose, snap, and send. But why are students sending these pictures?

Several Northview students have agreed to be a part of this article, but to protect their privacy, their names have been redacted.

According to one source, sending these pictures made her feel better about herself and boosted her confidence. Some felt “validated” after being asked.

For another, “Some guys just want to see that type of stuff and some girls just want to please who they are sending them to.”

Additionally, some students feel pressured by people they are in a relationship with.

But, it doesn’t matter why minors are sending these pictures, the law is very clear.

“Possession, distribution, and creating these nude photos, are all lumped together in the law,” Deputy Andrew Kozal, the school resource officer, said.

How bad can being caught with nudes be though? After all in one student’s words, “Sending nude pictures is made out to be something that it’s not. They’re not a big deal even though there are some consequences for it.”

Unfortunately, this is just not true. And although a three year span on your age doesn’t seem that significant, it can be in these cases.

“If you are under 16, you have the same penalties but you aren’t going to go to prison,” Kent County Head Prosecutor Chris Becker said. “But, we still treat those kids very seriously and they’re going to get charged very seriously.”

However, when a person turns seventeen, many things change in the eyes of the law. Someone found guilty is now old enough to go to prison and be charged as an adult. For seventeen year olds in a dating relationship with someone under the age of sixteen, this can get dangerous quickly.

“All they have to do is say, ‘Hey I want to see pictures of you naked’ and convincing them to take those pictures is inducing a minor for child sexual abuse material,” Becker said.

In these cases, he says that a “child” is anyone under 18.

Child sexual abuse material seems like a complicated term but it all boils down to a simple concept: a 20 year felony.

“A lot of kids have to learn the hard way and that is not something that you can take back once you send it,” Lindsay Haveman, Crossroad’s social worker, said.

Though there are many variables on what your punishments can be, the fact is that asking and sending nudes is illegal. Receiving nudes is illegal unless you turn them in.

Not only can you get arrested, but also you could get put on the sex offender list.

These pictures seem “innocent” but the naked truth is that nudes are child pornography and are illegal.

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