The Birds, the Bees and Cell Phones

With America moving left politically and socially, it might be wise to take a moment and consider what might happen to kids if the drift continues. Already, children are under pressure from high-tech machines that can instantly provide them with images and information far beyond their ability to emotionally comprehend the material. Even vigilant parents are up against it. On nearly every playground in America, there are cell phones that can transmit X-rated material in the blink of an eye.

The result is grim. Children in a dozen states have been charged with child pornography for "sexting" — sending nude pictures of themselves or others using cyberspace. A published study last December claims that 20 percent of American children had participated in some form of "sexting," including the extreme act of kids actually photographing themselves having sex.

But instead of outrage, the reaction has been largely muted, and in some cases adults are even excusing it. This week in Ottawa, Canada, about 8,000 academics from around the world attended a convention to discuss the latest in social trends. At the event, Peter Cumming, a literature professor at York University in Toronto, introduced a paper on "Children's Rights." The loon put forth that "sexting" is actually no worse than the old kissing game "spin the bottle." Cumming then went completely off the rails, writing:

"In Bush's America, is there no middle ground between child pornography, sexual assault, abuse and exploitation on the one hand and children's 'abstinence' on the other?

"When, in Western culture, did nudity become pornography, did children's sexuality become perverse, and when and how and why have we forgotten children's participatory rights as sexual beings?"

Wow! That's right out of the North American Man-Boy Love Association handbook.

By the way, bud, it's "Obama's America" now.

There was a time when Cumming would have been ostracized from serious discourse, but those days are long gone. There was no widespread outcry from the academics over his thesis, and most media chose to ignore the situation. After all, a condemnation of Cumming would require making a judgment, something far-left secular progressives are loath to do.

You don't have to support charging kids with child porn to figure this one out. "Sexting" will not do any child any good. Children should be taught that America has become the most powerful country in history by embracing a Judeo-Christian philosophy based upon good works, noble intentions and personal discipline. None of that is found in exposing yourself.

The far left wants to tear down traditional tenets. What better place to start than with the kids? It never was "Bush's America." It was always our America. And if we want to keep it the way we've known it, we'd better start confronting the barbarians soon.

Veteran TV news anchor Bill O'Reilly is host of the Fox News show "The O'Reilly Factor" and author of the book "Who's Looking Out For You?" To find out more about Bill O'Reilly, and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate web page at www.creators.com. This column originates on the Web site www.billoreilly.com.

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