Teenagers habit of distributing nude self-portraits electronically – often called “sexting” if its done by cell phone – has parents and school administrators worried. Some prosecutors have begun charging teens who send and receive such images with child pornography and other serious felonies. But is that the best way to handle it?

“Hopefully well get the message out to these kids,” says Michael McAlexander, a prosecutor in Allen County, Ind., which includes Fort Wayne. A teenage boy there is facing felony obscenity charges for allegedly sending a photo of his private parts to several female classmates. Another boy was recently charged with child pornography in a similar case.

In some cases, the photos are sent to harass other teens or to get attention. Other times, theyre viewed as a high-tech way to flirt. Either way, law enforcement officials want it to stop, even if it means threatening to add “sex offender” to a juveniles confidential record.

“We dont want to throw these kids in jail,” McAlexander says. “But we want them to think.”

This month in Greensburg, Pa., three high school girls who sent seminude photos and four male students who received them were all hit with child pornography charges. And in Newark, Ohio, a 15-year-old high school girl faced similar charges for sending her own racy cell phone photos to classmates. She eventually agreed to a curfew, no cell phone and no unsupervised Internet usage over the next few months. If she complies, the charges will be dropped.

In Pennsylvania, all but one of the students accepted a lesser misdemeanor charge, partly to avoid a trial and further embarrassment, a public defender in the case said. The mother of one boy is considering fighting all charges.

Whatever the outcome, the mere fact that child pornography charges were filed at all is stirring debate among students and adults.

At Greensburg-Salem High School in Pennsylvania, junior Jamie Bennish says shes not sure the boys in her schools case shouldve been charged.

“They did not necessarily choose to receive the pictures, although I find it questionable that they did not delete the photos from their cell phones after some period of time,” she says. “As for the girls, there is no excuse for exposing yourself in that way, and any charges they receive they have brought upon themselves.”

Dante Bertani, chief public defender in Westmoreland County, Pa., where the students went to court, called the felony charges “horrendous.” He says such treatment should be reserved for sex offenders, not teenagers who mightve used poor judgment, but meant nothing malicious.

“It should be an issue between the school, the parents and the kids – and primarily the parents and the kids,” Bertani says. “Its not something that should be going through the criminal system.”

These cases do pose a dilemma, concedes Wes Weaver, the principal at Licking Valley High School, where the Ohio girl attends school.

But he says there has to be some way to educate students and their parents about the harm these photos can do – and the fact that, once theyre out there, they often get widely circulated. Days before his staff discovered the girls nude photos, the county prosecutor had been at the school to warn students against sexting.

“I dont think were anywhere near having a handle on this,” Weaver says. “Its beyond our scope as a school.”

Parents are also often at a loss.

Some companies, such as WebSafety Inc., have developed software that parents can use to monitor certain activity on cell phones and computers. They can, for instance, block X-rated texting terms or be alerted when their child is using them, says Mike Adler, the companys CEO.

Photos are trickier, though, and often require a parent to manually check a childs phone.

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