Back when cellphones first became popular, children weren't easily just given these devices. Nowadays, you can find someone as young as a toddler holding onto an iPhone -- just tapping away unknowingly, while teenagers stay glued to their phones, probably sexting away and sending sexual images to others. They think it's harmless, but it's actually illegal -- in Canada, that is.
Sexting As Offense
CBC News reported youngsters didn't know they are doing something illegal when storing and sending explicit photographs through their smartphones. Apparently, there are certain restrictions on sexual images, as stated by Canada's Criminal Code.
"The Criminal Code prohibits any sexualized image of a child," said Crown Prosecutor Karen Lee of the Internet child exploitation department in New Brunswick. "Whether they be nude or in a sexualized situation, to be taken, possessed, looked at or shared."
Karen Lee further clarified the law's restrictions, explaining that anyone under 18 years of age would be causing a crime just by taking sexual images. This is regardless of whether it is a photo of themselves or of other people.
Children as well as their parents must be mindful that once a sexualized image is sent online, it will be difficult to retrieve. "A lot of the complaints come because they really just want the image back," Lee added.
Sex Education And Sexting
According to Telegraph, education about sexting surfaced as schools' sex education didn't cover the issue, adding that sexual teachings are "too one dimensional." Not only that, but respect for a person's body should raised and talked about with children, too.
Sex education in schools don't look into the wider aspects of sex, since kids often ignore and make fun of it instead. Maggie Morgan, member of the youth charity Fixers, found that sexting is much harder to avoid nowadays.
Morgan attributes this inevitability to the ever-evolving world of technology and children's maturity levels. In fact, she claims that sexting has already been a norm in today's culture.
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