Her boyfriend eggs her on. She finally gives in. She strips down, takes a picture with her cell phone and sends it to her boyfriend. An adult finds out, and eventually the picture ends up with the police. In Kansas, it is illegal for minors to voluntarily take and send nude pictures to other minors.

Recently, in Wichita two 13-year-olds actually got caught "sexting" to each other. "Sexting" is taking nude photos and sending it through a cell phone. The two could have been charged with child pornography, but the authorities opted not to charge them. The Sedgwick County district attorney did, however, leave open the possibility of charging kids in the future.

While the kids who "sext" are clearly using poor judgment, the police should not be involved. The law currently states that the minimum sentence for a juvenile convicted of this crime is two years in state detention. That is absolutely insane.

If the two years in a state detention facility is not enough, kids can also be forced to list themselves on the Kansas sex offender’s list, which could potentially ruin all future career possibilities. Six teens in Pennsylvania "sexted" each other and are getting charged with child porn manufacturing and possession. The authorities there decided they needed to teach kids a lesson so other kids will not do it.

I take issue with the idea that the police and government need to forcibly teach teenagers a lesson. Morals should come from parents, not from the government. Things like "sexting" are best dealt with through the watchful eye of moms and dads because they will impose reasonable discipline, like taking away the phone as opposed to registering their kids on the sex offenders’ list. Spending money on education that shows why it is a bad idea to "sext" is a much more common sense approach than threatening kids with jail time.

What is ironic is that in Kansas, it is legal for two consenting 16-year-olds to have sex, but they cannot send nude pictures to each other. Sexual exploration is natural, and "sexting" is actually a common occurrence. A survey by Teenage Research Unlimited of more than 1,200 students found that 20 percent of them had sent nude or erotic pictures to each other. Whether the government likes it or not, it is going to happen.

It is unfortunate that people are perverting a law meant to protect kids and using it to actually harm them. When the law passed, it was supposed to stop perverts from taking sexual pictures of minors. Instead, it is being used to scare teenagers who are voluntarily taking pictures of themselves and sending it to their boyfriends or girlfriends.

So why make this a criminal offense? For something to be a crime, there should be a clear victim. In "sexting" the only potential victims are the kids who take the pictures because it could end up in the hands of someone they did not intend it to. However, these kids are only further victimized if they end up being harassed by a brute police force looking to charge them with a crime.

While the police need to make better judgment, so should kids. It is not a very smart idea to "sext." Eighteen-year-old high schooler Jessie Logan sent a nude picture to her boyfriend. When they broke up, he forwarded the picture. She later killed herself.

Right now, there are signs that legislators are realizing that harsh punishments for two consenting teenagers who "sext" is not appropriate. In Utah lawmakers lowered the penalty from a felony to a misdemeanor. Ohio is seeking similar legislation, and in Vermont a bill is in the works that would make it legal for 13 to 18-year-olds to send graphic images between themselves. Logan’s parents support this type of legislation.

The time is now for Kansas to also wake up and change an outdated law that hurts more than it helps.