It’s spring. The crocuses peek out their heads, newborn babies abound, and teenage hormones course through the veins of every 12- to 19-year-old. Maybe that’s why, every spring, parents get another wave of hysteria about the next peril they’ll need to face on the Internet. This season the hubbub revolves around “sexting.”

Sexting involves kids using cellphones and/or webcams to transmit naked or provocative images of themselves to friends and/or posting them on the Internet. Parents, all too aware of the risk-taking/impetuous behavior of youth, are terrified of what might happen when their in-the-moment child meet the world’s largest, fastest megaphone—the Internet.

But parents should be soul searching a bit deeper. Ask yourself whether you are more concerned with the fact that your child decided to share a nude photo or apoplectic from the fear that the photo might fall into the wrong hands—a teacher, college admissions staff, or even the entire Internet. Parents who fear the aftershock of a sexting incident more than the act itself may be missing the point.

Risk-taking, impetuousness, and a lack of self-esteem probably lie at the heart of what motivates a young person to sext. I think of it as an Internet-age game of Truth of Dare. The less daring will strike a flirtatious pose in a bra and panties; the more daring will go all the way. Just as with teen sex in the real world, sexting is the manifestation of a problem, not the problem. Playing devil’s advocate, I’ve even argued that experimenting with your sexuality using technology carries a lot less risk than being promiscuous in the real world.

Is Sexting a Felony?

While it’s up to parents to look for the underlying reasons to sext, it’s up to the courts to decide just how much of a crime it should be for kids to pass lewd or unseemly photos to each other. Unfortunately, some incidents have been treated as felonies.

Earlier this month a Florida boy was arrested for sexting after he sent a photo of his 16-year-old girlfriend posing naked to a bunch of her friends and family. The 18-year-old boy, in a moment of anger (he claimed that a boyfriend/girlfriend fight was the impetus for the sexting), earned a place on the sex offenders registry. He’ll remain on the list until he’s 43. Sending a photo of a naked 16-year-old constitutes child pornography in the eyes of the law. Equally disturbing, a 14-year-old New Jersey girl was arrested for posting nude pictures of herself on MySpace. Posting one’s own photo constitutes child pornography as well.

Other states have shown more tolerance for the follies of youth. In Pennsylvania, students involved in distributing photos of female classmates could have all charges against them dropped if they’d agree to participate in a sexual harassment seminar. The majority did. In Ohio, a 15-year-old high school girl faced charges for sending racy cellphone photos of herself to classmates. She eventually agreed to a curfew, no cellphone, and supervised Internet usage. And in Vermont, they’re trying to pass legislation so that sexting would not be considered a felony, though it will still be considered illegal. Should kids be treated as felons for sexting?

Smart Thoughts on Sexting

On Good Morning America, Parry Aftab recently held a sexting summit for parents and teens to discuss the reasons for sexting, the danger it poses, and some parental tips for to spot trouble.

Over at Ars Technica, the author reviews a controversial study finding that 20% of teens said that they’d put nude photos of themselves online. The full text of the study can be found at the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, the survey’s sponsors. Ann Collier’s report on the sexting trend offers a good overview. Anastasia Goodstein’s column asks us not to blow the sexting situation out of proportion. Salon’s Broadsheet reminds parents that it is inevitable that someday their kids are going to bare all, either on or off the web.