Kids trading nude photos could face charges

Waterloo elementary pupils suspected of using images as ‘a manipulation tool’

Cellphones. IPads. Nintendo DS systems.

These are just a few of the tools police say elementary schoolchildren, some as young as 12 and 13, were using to allegedly take and distribute nude photos since last fall in the Kitchener-Waterloo area.

Students in Grades 7 and 8 are now under investigation from Waterloo Regional Police for allegedly being in possession of child pornography and could face charges, according to spokeswoman Alana Holtom.

Holtom says four schools in the Waterloo Region District School Board were allegedly involved, with reports of nude photos being used as a “manipulation tool” in the schoolyard to gain anything from money to chocolate bars.

At first glance, it’s a shocking scenario: Youth, not even in high school yet, making and distributing nude photographs of their peers. But experts say this scenario is more common than you’d think, even among younger demographics.

“It’s become almost the norm,” said Shaheen Shariff, an associate professor at McGill University who researches cyberbullying and digital citizenship, with a focus on teens and children as young as 9.

Canadian researcher Amy Hasinoff, an assistant professor at the University of Colorado Denver, said it’s not totally uncommon for 12- or 13-year-olds to be sexting, or sexually active in general. But there’s no research suggesting children are sexting younger than ever, she added.

Younger children engaged in this type of behaviour are confused when it comes to issues of privacy, and the photographs often start as jokes, not something malicious, according to Shariff.

“This has become the new kissing in the back seat of a car,” she said.

As for the situation in Kitchener-Waterloo, Holtom said it allegedly started as something funny among the children, but “quickly turned into a situation where their images are being used against them.”

Some of the images were “frontal nude photos,” and certain ones showed the children’s faces, according to Holtom. At one point, the photos were posted to Facebook, but police are still investigating where else they may have been shared.

Charges are possible for the youth involved, she added.

“At the age of 12, you could be charged. It will be determined throughout the investigation whether that will be the case here. But, primarily, we’re looking at this as an education piece.”

Education instead of punishment should be the focus when it comes to these situations, experts agree.

“Child pornography laws were implemented to protect children from adults who prey on them, right? Those laws should be left that way — to protect children from adults,” Shariff said.

The laws surrounding child pornography are “far too harsh to be applied to what’s going on between young people,” Hasinoff agreed.

Schools aren’t doing enough to educate children on the risks, she added.

“Children who are exchanging nude photographs of each other . . . don’t understand the impact of their actions, clearly,” said Stu Auty, president of the Canadian Safe School Network. “And the impact of their actions should be taught in school.”