Bill: No Jail For Sexting Students

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Mar 19, 2010 4:20PM

The State Senate has passed a bill that would punish students under the age of 18 caught distributing nude photos of peers with only a verbal "scolding," requiring no jail time. It's the latest attempt to reign in the new "sexting" trend that's been making headlines over the last several months. The Tribune reports:

Offenders would not face criminal charges, but would get juvenile court supervision that could result in counseling or community service. The bill doesn't address youths who send or receive racy photos if they don’t distribute them.

Sen. Ira Silverstein, D-Chicago, who sponsored the bill, said, “It's an intervention. Sometimes these kids don't understand what they're doing, make a mistake, and it follows them for life. So we don't want that in their record.” A similar bill passed the State House already so some version of either bill is expected to sent to Gov. Quinn for approval very soon. No word if the bill includes smacking common sense into the kids these days as part of the punishment.