Sexting is serious

Teens listen in on Capt. Dan Hally’s presentation Wednesday.

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Story Published: Nov 25, 2009 at 11:33 PM PDT

Story Updated: Nov 25, 2009 at 11:33 PM PDT

By Stephanie Smith

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CLARKSTON - Sending nude or otherwise provocative pictures through text messages is called sexting.

Even if you haven't heard of it, you can bet teens and the police have. Wednesday Captain Dan Hally from the Asotin County Sheriff's Office talked to teens at CHS about the dangers.

"You want to be funny, so you send a picture of yourself in a provocative pose, but you are just sending it as a joke, to be funny," said Hally. "And you're 17, female and you send it to an 18-year-old male. What's he thinking? Funny? I don't think so."

One text message can be sent to thousands and uploaded to the Internet within seconds. Hally said sexting can lead to stalking, harassment and even rape.

"The perception people have about what you did is different than what you intended," said Hally.

Hally said sexting can also become a felony, which could require the guilty party to register as a sex offender. That could affect getting into college and also future employment.

The students seemed to get the message.

"If you sext you get a lot of consequences," said sophomore Ashley Meyers.

"And it can affect you for the rest of your life," said sophomore Jocelyn Lejameyer.

"If you get a scholarship or a job and they look at your Myspace and you have a bad picture then they won’t take you," said freshman Rachel Folsom.

Although it's a relatively new concept, the students said they have heard of it happening at CHS.

"The girl likes a guy," said Meyers. “So she snaps a shot and sends it. Guys show it to people," said Meyers.

"Or girls show it to their friends," said Lejameyer.

"They think they will be cool if they do it and really it's just nasty," said Folsom.

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