Sending or distributing explicit photos of a child under 18 is illegal in many countries, including the United States. It is also illegal to send such photos to a minor even if both parties consent to it. Now, in a growing number of cases across the U.S., teenagers are being arrested on charges of child pornography for “sexting”, which is the practice of sending nude or semi-nude images of oneself to others via mobile phones.

Take the case of Phillip Alpert of Orlando, Florida. According to the Orlando Sentinel, Alpert’s girlfriend “sexted” him naked pictures of herself, even though he didn’t request them. After they broke up, he stupidly mass e-mailed the photos to get back at her. Alpert, 18, was convicted of transmission of child porn and will be labeled as a “sex offender” until he is 43. He lost friends, was kicked out of school, and can’t live with his father because his father’s house is near a school.

Some contend that we have a moral obligation to charge “sexting” teens with the most serious offense possible under the law because sending naked pictures of underage kids is usually considered child porn. Others contend they have few options since states have no laws that apply specifically to “sexting”.

And having one’s private pictures distributed among classmates or uploaded on to social-networking websites can lead to tragic consequences, as in the case of Jessica Logan, an 18-year-old from Ohio, who took her own life after pictures she sent of herself to her boyfriend ended up in the hands of fellow pupils.

But a child pornography conviction as a result of “sexting” often carries far heavier penalties than other sexual offenses. Even if a juvenile receives no jail time, he or she has to register as a sex offender for 10 years or more. The federal Adam Walsh Child Protection Act of 2007 requires that sex offenders as young as 14 register.

Many parents, school officials, police and prosecutors have begun asking whether branding “sexting” teenagers as sex offenders and pedophiles – and potentially creating many more sex offenders – is the best way to discourage teens from “sexting”.

Lawmakers in Vermont considered a bill that would make it legal for teenagers 18 and under to exchange explicit photos and videos of themselves. Under the current law, teenagers could be prosecuted as sex offenders if they get caught sending graphic sexual images of themselves, even if it was consensual.

Child porn is about the abuse and exploitation of minors by adults. In many cases, sexting” teens are both perpetrators and victims, and sometimes harm themselves. It makes little sense to compound the act of harming themselves with a criminal prosecution and conviction.

Perhaps it’s time that our laws caught up with technology.