I sat in the same spot as I did everyday. On the couch, next to Leslie where we would gossip about pretty much everything. But today was different. Instead of talking about whatever issue came randomly came up, Schimmy had a plan.

She sat down in her famous, green arm chair and said this word I had barely even heard. “Sexting.” Well it sounded dirty, but I thought it was probably as silly as phone sex. I had seen the article passed around school, though I was curious, I didn’t read it. Something that sounded so petty probably wasn’t worth my attention.

But when Schimmy had our attention I knew it was important. She wouldn’t make her Teen II students focus on something that wasn’t. So we watched an episode of Law & Order and read the article I had seen passed around school. I was completely unaware teens sent naked pictures of themselves to each other. I didn’t see the point. I knew teens had sex, but I wondered why they needed to send photos when they already did something that made them so vulnerable.

I know I’m saying “they” which doesn’t seem fair. Teens are my peers. And I’m not judging anyone. I just choose not to participate in those activities because I’m so self- conscience and I don’t believe a random guy deserves to see me in that way, unless he is willing to spend the rest of his life with me. But if someone wants to do these things they have a free will.

Unfortunately their free will can get them into a lot of trouble. If a teen is under 18, they are a minor and nude pictures of them are considered “child pornography.” I have a few issues with this. As an artist, I love nudity. The naked body is a beautiful thing, but teenage artists have to be careful with this passion until they are 18.

Sex offenders are watched and told where to live, and sometimes forced to move. But when someone is listed as a sex offender, no one knows exactly what they have done. So if I decide I want to send a cute boy a provocative picture of myself I could become a sex offender for the rest of my life. I want be able to live where I want or have the job of my choice. One little, pixilated photo could ruin the rest of my life.

But enough about that. When Schimmy sat us down I always thought the article being passed around school was the reason why. Until this year, I had no idea it was because a couple of kids at my school were sexting.

At the beginning of the year, I was assigned a story about sexting because Mr. Wright thought it was becoming an issue around Legacy. So this story was going to be easy, I already knew everything about sexting. But I didn’t know how it made people feel and I still didn’t understand why teenagers did it. Apparently, they didn’t either.

When I met the girl who would be the main source of my story I was surprised by how innocent she looked. Her hair was up in a pony tail and I just kept thinking, “Wow she did this.”  She’s younger than me, but had a couple more experiences than I had had. We talked and I figured out she’s extremely sweet and no one would every expect her to do this. She had just turned 16 when she took the photo. Not even old enough to see a rated R movie. In my eyes, in their father’s eyes, these 16-year-old girls were just little girls.

She did say she didn’t regret it, which surprised me. Schimmy had given me her name and told me she was extremely regretful. But it was just another mistake to her. A mistake that could have ruined her reputation and labeled her as a sex offender for the rest of her life. But hey, at least we learn from our mistakes.