homemade corn, cell phones, teens have taken naked pics and send it to other teens. it is called sexting. 36 school kids gunned down in the streets of chicago. in the last school year. the sad thing is the violence is only getting worse and neighbors say nothing is being done to stop it. this prime news special edition parent alert starts now.

tonight we are going to concentrate on our kids and scary things they are doing. there are people out to get our kids. sometimes our children are hurting themselves. sexting. this is where teens use their cell phones to send suggestive messages or naked photos of themselves to other teens. some kids are being charged with child pornography. the consequences can follow them the rest of their lives. why are there new cases every week like two in richmond, virginia, nude photos of students were found on a computer drive in a middle school. in idaho a teen sent a racy photo to her boyfriend and it is all over the school.÷ prosecutors are deciding whether to charge these kids. how do we get the message to these kids joining me is dr. suzanne lipkins who just did a study on sexting.

>> hi. thanks for having me. >> parents hear this and they are wondering how prevalent is this? how worried should i be? >> i don't think you should be worried. it is very prevalent. 66% of the population is sexting right now. that might be an underestimation. >> two out of three. that is a big number. >> right. it is part of the new culture. we have to look at what kids are doing today. they are expressing their sexuality through sexting. on the one hand it could be a mating call. >> two out of three teens are doing this. >> right. >> from what i've read, a lot of the cases seem to be the boys ask for the image to be sent and the girls are obliging. is that what you are see something. >> no. no. no. no. first of all, it is not just kids. i looked at people 13 to 72 and everybody is sexting.

the largest group people age 20 to 26. people who know the consequences. i think that everybody is doing it. some are doing it -- girls are doing it to say, hey, you want to hook up. they willingly send their own pictures. they are not necessarily being asked. >> they are doing it on their own. it is not like the boys are coercing them? >> no. in fact, 2% of the people felt pressured to sext. 98% of the people are doing it on their own free will. >> it is the technology. a girl wouldn't walk up to a boy and hand over the 8 by 10 of her naked self. the technology, the inhibitions drop. i e-mail you or sext you, you are not getting the visceral reaction or eye to eye contact? >> that's true. we have a culture that is hyper

sexualized. at any middle school you would be surprised what they are showing in the raw. they are stripping a little more and using video chats a lot that parents may not be aware of. >> so you are saying -- i mean, when i was growing up, just the thought of the embarrassment, the parental consequences, is this a new generation and they are not thinking that way? >> it is an absolutely new generation. i would say it is like a sexual revolution like in the '60s when your parents said, what do you mean you are moving in with your boyfriend and there was make love not war. there is a new sexual revolution. not just what they are sending through sex but what they are saying about themselves. >> do the kids understand the consequences. >> i would ask do the parents understand the consequences? most of the time the kids are getting away with it. each time we try to control it

they go underground and keep doing what they want to do. we'll never catch up with them. >> what are the parents going to do? two out of three kids doing it, this image if it gets on the internet could haunt you the rest of your life. >> it could, but a lot of the kids are much too savvy for that. i had a 16-year-old in my office and said maybe you want to put that in a text message. she said it doesn't matter what is on facebook. i put it on hold or delete it or put a hold on my facebook page. the parents have to put a gps for each child so they can navigate through life. they will not be there for each little thing and control them. cell phone companies can add a screen that says are you sure you want to send this picture? now, later, delete? research showed if you have a pause at a specific time it will

reduce risky behavior and help impulsive behavior so people don't send all the sexts. but we are not going to stop it all. >> i like your idea with the cell phone. kids are so impulsive and just to make them think one more second before they send that shot. sus susan, i wish we had more time. >> thank you very much. >> how do you punish kids for sexting? one judge ordered house arrest for a 15-year-old boy who received naked photos, both teens banned from cell phones, community service. she has to write a paper. more on his take coming up. int. new elations has been clinically proven to improve joint comfort in as little as six days. six days, that's fast! (announcer) joint supplement pills are history, because elations powerful formula is more absorbable than pills, delivering clinically proven levels of glucosamine and chondroitin in a great-tasting drink you enjoy every day.

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welcome back. it is about time someone got it right on how to punish kids for sexting, the sending of nude images on their cell phones. a judge in ohio is on the right track. we shouldn't charge teens as sex offenders, but can't slap them on the wrist. he punished two teams, a girl who send a nude photo and the boy who received it. here is her sentence, 100 hours of community service, counseling for both of them. the girl has to write a paper on the dangers of sexting, for the boy 30 days of house arrest and they both have to surrender their cell phones. i spoke to lisa bloom, a cnn legal analyst. we spoke to the judge himself, mike powell. judge, thanks for being with us.

personally, i applaud you. nice job. how did you come to this decision? >> well, in all cases we have involving juveniles we take in consideration we are not dealing with little adults. we know adolescents is more than chronology and young people because of the way their brains are wired are risk takers. and this sexting we are seeing now is our modern technology intersecting with the facts of youth. we took that into consideration. these two young people i had in front of me yesterday, there was nothing about their history that indicated they were bad actors, they had no prior history with the court and there was nothing to indicate that what happened here was -- had any deviant sexual motivation. so we wanted to craft a disposition that helped them, that hopefully sent a message to

the community to deotherss from engaging in this activity and hold them accountable. >> judge, you are kind of a trail blazer in this. this is new. let's nays it. it is new, it is not a good thing. we have seen other parts of the country where i think they have gone too far charging them as sex offenders or felony child porn charges. it also shouldn't be a slap on the wrist. how difficult was it to navigate through this and come to where justice is served. >> i have a lot of help here. i don't approach a case like this as the lone ranger. juvenile courts do a lot of social work. we have a lot of social workers here, counselors and psychologists. when these cases came in the door i got together with them and said we are going to be faced with some sexting cases

and put together a disposition that will appropriately address the conduct we have here. >> lisa, i think the judge set the table thinking ahead knowing these cases are coming down the pike. >> this is a very reasonable approach. hey, how about taking into account that teenagers are actually teenagers. and just like we used to do stupid things like mooning and flashing. they do it, too, but they have technology and it becomes dangerous because they send it around and it becomes child porn. other states have said this is a felony. we are going to potentially expose you to many years in jail or register you as a sex offender. that is ridiculous. that is a bad idea. the photos are out there and technically child porn. this is a very reasonable approach. it is based on educating the kids, teaching them something so they don't do this in the future. hat off to you, judge. >> thank you very much.

>> call in on this. 1-877-tell-hln. lisa, let me stay with you on this one. how would others look at this and say that is the way we need to go? >> what i think we need is a change in the law. vermont has proposed an exception to child porn laws for underage kids taking pictures of themselves sending to each other, not intended for commercial gains. some have said my hands are tied. that is felony child porn and i don't have any other options. this judge in the state of ohio found another option and good for him. in other states they could find other options. maybe we should change the law to say children are not child pornographers. >> we want to focus on real child pornographers.

judge, were people in your ear saying throw the book at them? were there voices trying to tell you what to do or was there an even keeled approach? >> i think it was a pretty even keeled approach. i didn't hear any noise from any sector we needed to throw the book at these kids. and, you know, the prosecutor didn't charge these kids with felonies and could have. she charged them with misdemeanors. and they took an even-handed approach i thought. >> we'll continue our conversation. continuing on about how to punish these kids. we are talking 13 and 14-year-old. it is wrong to sext. a judge got it right. more with mike powell and lisa bloom coming up.

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we are talking about sexting here. we hear about it way too often. one judge has nailed it. a 15-year-old boy and a 15-year-old girl not facing felony charges but will pay a price. let's rejoin the conversation with attorney lisa bloom and the judge mike powell. hey, judge, what was the reaction from the family, from the kids themselves and so forth? >> my staff tells me that the families were fairly receptive to the dispositions in the case that they wanted something to be done that would hopefully send a message to their child they can't continue to do this, but at the same time they didn't want their children to be made an example of. hopefully we were able to catch that balance. >> lisa, we talked about that as

well. what strikes the right balance. how do you get through to the 14 or 15-year-old. >> kids are completely unaware that sending a naked picture of themselves over a cell phone could subject them to years in prison. we are getting the message out on this program. the judge is getting the message out. this is a brave new world. kids are handed a cell phone with a camera on it. what do you think they are going to do? i think i will take a naked picture of myself. that is basic adolescent knuckleheaded thing to do. it is a major violation of the law. don't do it. don't send it on because you are distributing child porn. >> look at those numbers, 39% of teens have sent the message or the post. 48% are receiving. that is a big number. when we talk legislation, lisa, do you think we are catching up? obviously, rulings like this from judge powell help us out.

>> we have a long way to go because it could be considered child porn. i have a quick question for the judge. what exactly happened here? were the boys taking pictures of themselves or was it a picture of a girl without her consent? >> no. i don't think any of this happened without consent. the girl was charged with sending a picture of herself with the boy and the boy was charged of taking a picture of another girl that was on phone. >> there is a big difference. if somebody has a picture that sent it on to the rest of the school, one girl committed suicide because of that. that is a far more serious offense than someone taking a picture of themselves and sending to a boyfriend. sending around a picture without someone's consent is worse. >> we have seen that, they are a couple of 15-year-olds, they break up. now the angry guy sends that picture to 50 of his friends. so with that said, judge, let me

ask you, how does the punishment change? i know it is somewhat hypothetical, but it's got be more severe on the kid who sends out the shot. >> well, certainly the motivation for disseminating materials like that is going to be a factor that i will take into consideration in what an appropriate disposition in a case will be. nothing like that happened in this case. >> to be clear. let's get a call in. darcy in pennsylvania. >> caller: my question is for the judge. >> yeah. >> caller: these were both 15-year-old children. i'm grateful for what you've done, first off. the boy has been sentenced to house arrest. the girl, though from my understanding is the one that initiated the pictures. why though was she not sentenced also to house arrest? >> you know, i don't want to get too much into the facts of each of these cases but i will say that we thought that there were

some differences in the motivations and the conduct involved and because of that there was a different sentence in the girl's case from the boy's case. >> it wasn't because she was a girl and he was a boy? >> it was not. >> okay. >> certainly there are gender motivations or feel there are different gender motivations for this type of conduct that's involved but there were differences in the conduct in these cases that we felt justified in. >> judge, sounds like applause from lisa and i and our callers. judge powell, appreciate it. lisa, good talking to you. >> thank you. young kids gunned down in the streets of chicago. more than 30 kids killed this year alone. what is being done to stop the violence? this is my small-business specialist, tara. i know landscaping, but i didn't know how wireless could help my business. i just don't know how wireless can help my business. tara showed me how i could keep track of my employees

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in just this school year more than 30 school-age children are dead. their faces are posted online by the "chicago tribune" silent reminders of the growing mountain of grief. >> families come and cry. you can hear them screaming. >> reporter: dine latiker started this memorial. she started with 30 stones marked with the names of 30 young victims today with 153 students she is the one who is shocked. who is failing these kids. >> we all are? >> reporter: is it the city, the police, the schools. >> we all are. >> reporter: the youngest victim was 10. among them blair holt, the

aspiring songwriter whose death sparked protests. two years late ter violence is getting worse not better. we want to know why more young people are dieing this year than last. a community activists tell us they are at a loss to find any simple explanation. the recipient discovery of a 15-year-old who was beaten, shot in the head and burned took the out-of-control violence to a frightening level. this father put out an sos. that is a strong message. what are you trying to stay? >> it is a radical move. >> reporter: he ordered the chur church's flag to be hung upside down, a symbol of stress. if we had people dying of swine flu, what kind of resources would you see? >> we would have an influx.

>> reporter: because it is violence what do you see happen something. >> we are hiding it, denying it. >> i can walk around. >> reporter: pu there is no denying the loss. martell stephens is adjusting to his loss with youthful energy and optimism, in a city where dreams are disappearing he believes he will one day walk again. >> that was david mattingly from our sister network cnn. chicago police department and public schools are working together by stepping up curfew enforcement and recruiting more officers and expanding the text to tip program that allow students to text anonymous tips to police. we wish them the best. need a change there. a teenage girl dies in a car crash. there are gruesome photos. her parents weren't allowed to see the body. somehow these pictures get out on the internet. there are creeps sending them back to the family. we talk to the parents coming up.

this is a headline that will get you. bullied to death. an 11-year-old boy hanged himself because he was getting made fun of. kids repeatedly called him gay. but the bullies never stopped. could this have been prevented. tonight we are alerting parents to scary things happening to our kids. every day there is a mother and father in california who live in fear they are going to stumble on the gruesome photos of their dead daughter. nikki catsouras was killed in a

car crash. the coroner wouldn't let her parents identify the body. highway patrol officers sent their family and friends pictures of the accident. now it is all over the internet. sadistic creeps are taunting the family. let's get back to the beginning. richelle carey will catch us up. >> there are nine pictures of the car crash. that happened on halloween day in 2006. she took the keys to her dad's car she wasn't allowed to drive. let's backtrack, when nikki was 8, she had to undergo intensive radiation for her brain. the family says that is why she tried cocaine the summer before the accident and had cocaine in her system the day before the wreck. they thought about visiting a

psychiatrist that very day, someone who was a specialist on brain disorders. nikki was driving the porch 100 miles an hour and crossed the median and slammed into a concrete toll booth. two officers at the scene took the nine photos. this is only one we are going to show you. officers passed them along to family and friends about the danger of reckless driving. nine photos on 1,600 websites. some say spoiled little brat who is not so pretty anymore. just ridiculously horrible stuff, mike. >> that is unbelievable. >> nikki's parents are in a legal fight to stop these pictures from spreading. i spoke with nikki's parents.

and their attorney. our condolences to prime news. i knee it has been a few years but the wound still has to be fresh. thank you for telling your story and fighting for what we should all have, the right to privacy. kristos, what is so horrifying as a father myself to think someone would e-mail me pictures or -- and they e-mailed you pictures, right? this was days after your daughter died. what came your way? >> an e-mail came but it started off with thousands of e-mails sent out. i got an e-mail. the one that i opened up was oh, daddy i'm alive. yeah. it was e-mails all over the country. with the pictures attached. >> these were the crash scene photos, right? >> correct. they were police evidence

pictures that basically were for the investigation purposes not for the public to see. >> leslie, i'm sure you can't fathom that someone would taunt you over the tragedy of your daughter's death. >> no, i can't. i don't understand it. it has been something that has been hard enough as it is. we lost our daughter. we seem to have lost so much since then. and we don't understand why -- why this is something that is being allowed to happen to us. we hate to see that this could happen in today's age of the internet. this needs to be handled correctly and right away. >> kristos, you find out the pictures are out there. they are sent back to you. who did you go to then? the highway patrol? did you ask the questions and what did they tell you? >> actually, initially, the initial steps were e-mails went to my brother and brother-in-law

and my brothers and my brother-in-law contacted the california highway patrol. they said they would look into it. once they identified the pictures as their pictures, i went down there to talk to them to see if there is anything they could do to get them off the websites. at that point 35 websites had the pictures on. >> keith, the pictures are out there. what was done to try and rein that back in. it is difficult once they are on the internet. it is like wildfire. >> initially we worked with a company called reputation defenders. we got with michael to try to get these websites to take down these photographs. from a legal perspective we worked with reputation defenders and sent out cease and desist letters. >> what happened with that? too late. >> it was too late in that it was already out there. once it proliferates it grows

from there. we had a tremendous amount of success at getting most of the portals to take down these pictures. we found they continued to come back over and over again. we continue with reputation defenders and the cease and desist letters and contacting the portals and asking them to remove the offensive photographs. >> kristos, one question, why are you going public with this fight? >> you know, at this point we tried so hard to do everything through our attorneys and reputation defenders who have done such an incredible job for us, all the parties. we got to a point where the case was dismissed initially, this california highway patrol, the state were not willing to help us in any way, shape or form. we felt if we try and get help from the public and they see the story and see how it has affected our family and it will affect so many other people if this happens to someone else.

>> leslie, you have three other daughters. >> mm-hmm. >> have they seen the pictures and how are you protecting them from that? >> no. thankfully they have not seen the pictures. they don't go on myspace or answer e-mails. we keep them off the internet. they only go on the internet with us when they have to. >> we wish you the best in keeping that horror away from your other three daughters. leslie, let me ask you to close out. how are you guys getting through this? again, you lost your daughter which is bad enough, but now this. >> yeah. yeah. our faith in god is how we're getting through this. >> well, thank you again. because the sobering fact is this could happen to any of us and it is just appalling in this day and age, leslie, as you said this could come back at us. it is not enough you are going through the horror and tragedy of losing a daughter in a

horrific way but it would come back at you over and over again and you have to be concerned with your other three daughters seeing these horrific photos. coming up, we pick up on that part. how it could happen to you or i. what about our privacy in a tragedy like this. we talk to our experts and hear from you. that is coming up.

this one is so hard to fathom the family is dealing with a tragedy of losing their daughter in a horrific car crash but highway patrol officers leak these photos out so the nightmare can be relived by the family over and over again. can't they be protected stephen clark, criminal defense attorney, john lusig, author of the book "cyberlies."

these two officers leaked these photos. shouldn't they pay a price here? >> mike, when you hear stories like this, it shows you there is a dark side of the internet but absolute evil in this world. i think this is a learning tool for a lot of other officers. the pain and suffering that could be caused by doing something like this. they shouldn't have been leaked like this even if it is just to friends and family. i'm surprised the state of california has not taken a pro active stance to get their property back. the digital pictures are the property of california. >> let's get a call in. debbie in georgia. your thoughts here. >> caller: right, okay. >> go ahead, debbie. >> caller: i can talk now. i wanted to say i was watching your program just now. i'm the mother -- i've lost a child. i lost my son in an automobile

accident. i just wanted the parents that lost their daughter to know that my prayers are with them. i could not imagine those law officers being so cruel. there is no greater love than between a parent and their child. >> debbie, thanks for calling with the kind condolences for the catsouras family. the family sues. as they look for some kind of justice here. they sue california highway patrol for negligence, invasion of privacy, infliction of emotional harm. the judge dismisses the case, citing conduct of the officers that was reprehensible but not against the law. you read those charges and it is game, set and match, right, stephen >> here is where the right of privacy in a situation has not caught up with the internet. a deceased individual no longer has a right of privacy. that is terrible.

>> that is ridiculous. >> it is. there has to be news and you have to get the news out. for the officers to do this, i think, is disgraceful. they should have been held sifly liable for the torment these people have gone through. once you start the chain reaction with the internet it is difficult to stop. you can stop it one place but it starts again. that is where i think right of privacy needs to extend to the deceased for a period to let the family heal. >> nikki in texas. your thoughts? >> caller: i have seen these pictures on the internet. i saw them about an hour ago. i think the judge should do something and make sure all these pictures get taken off the internet. >> why did you look, nikki? >> i saw something on the news and i saw something about it. i wanted to see, hey, i want to see if i could find some pictures. i did. >> i'm sure it is easy to find.

us doing this story, please, don't go look. there is no need. they are bad pictures. it is a tragedy here. brad, we want to continue with this. guys we have to leave it there. hopefully this family will get justice and hopefully the laws will catch up to the internet. a family like this and a grieving family can have the privacy we deserve. thanks, guys. we appreciate it. again, this headline gets you. bullied to death. look at that innocent face. an 11-year-old hanged himself because he was getting made fun of. kids were calling him gay. mom said she asked the school for help but the bullying didn't stop. how can we pret this and protect our kids?er tastes too good. there is fiber. [ chuckle ] no. i can't taste the fiber in this chocolate. they have 35% of your daily value. hmm. oh, samples. hmm.

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so how could school bullies be so cruel to drive an 11-year-old boy to commit suicide? his mother found him hanging from an extension cord. mom says he was tormented every day. how the school allowed this to happen? randy kay from cnn has more. >> reporter: by all accounts karl joseph walker hoover was a good kid, a boy scott who went to church every sunday with his mother. the sixth grader started at the new leadership charter school in springfield, massachusetts, last september where his mom says he was bullied daily. >> some people say he was flamboyant. he was dramatic. >> reporter: she never asked her son if he was gay, but students called him gay and feminine and told him, you act gay. the school's chairman of the board. would that be tolerated at your school? >> that is bullying.

that is harassing. no. >> reporter: so how was it able to go on for eight months or so? >> unless you expel every student every time they do something wrong it is a matter of working at it. >> reporter: parents and students sign a contract that prohibits abuse. when karl's mother said she told the principal her son was bullied in the bathroom. >> she said, we can't patrol the bathrooms. why not? >> could be a privacy issue. >> reporter: eight months into the school year the taunting finally became too much. while his mother cooked dinner downstairs karl wrapped an electrical cord around his neck upstairs. when he didn't come down to dinner, she found him on the landing outside his third floor bedroom. he hanged himself. he was 11. what happened, you called 911? >> we called 911. my daughter got me a knife and i cut the extension cords myself

to let him down. >> reporter: mrs. walker says hours before karl took his life, a female student threatened to beat him up and kill him. the school's chairman told me administrators were well aware carl was being bullied. he said the 6th grader met with the school psychologist almost every day but would not share any of the details of what was discussed because he says it was confidential. the school is investigating its policy which followed. do you feel the school did everything it could have done to protect this 11-year-old boy? >> i'm not sitting here telling you we're perfect. as best i can tell right now, it looks as if we followed policy and procedure as we should have. >> so many of our viewers are asking how could this happen. so how did this happen? >> it's a tragedy. with carl, he was such a beautiful young kid. but how, why it happens, you know, i don't have an answer for that. >> i just wanted you to know -- >> reporter: in this sympathy card from carl's school, an

apology from a student. >> i'm so sorry for making fun of carl because he couldn't do push-ups. >> reporter: on this national day of silence at stopping anti-gay harassment in schools, a memorial for the boy with the big smile who wanted to be president so he could change the world. randi kaye, cnn, springfield, massachusetts. coming up, a story equally infuria infuriating. teachers accused of abusing special ed students, duct taped, even wrestled to the ground. >> i trust no one now. now i question everybody. >> we felt that it was so sad that we felt it was a form of torture to him. but he being autistic, he had no way to express it, no way to tell. >> and this is not an isolated incident. it's happening all across the country. me

up, and my son was dead. >> you just wonder how could this happen in our schools. abbi at our sister network cnn has more. >> reporter: this is garrett peck. he's one of 6.5 million special needs children in u.s. public schools. he's 8 years old, loves animals and has autism. children like garrett have become the subject of an intense debate over how public schools manage special needs children. house education committee chairman george miller says tougher laws are needed. >> very often special needs children are subjected to policies of seclusion and policies of restraint that have in fact turned out to be lethal in a number of instances.

children have died at the hands of the people who are supposed to be taking care of them in the public school system. >> reporter: gao also investigated the misuse of time-outs, which is supposed to be used to refocus a child. but is often used as a punishment. >> mama, your turn. >> reporter: that's what happened to garrett. according to the utah department of human services. garrett's mother picked him up early one day from school, but she didn't see him in class. so she asked the teacher where he was. garrett was put in this three-sided cubicle in the corner of the room. >> and i just heard garrett said, i want my mom. and he walked out around that corner and he was covered in marker. on his eyelids, on his hair, face, clothes, legs, arms, everything. >> reporter: a report by utah's department of child and family services found that garrett, who was then just 7 years old, had been in time-out for a minimum of two and a half hours.

>> what were they thinking? why my mom letting this person do this to me? why am i here. i trust no one now. now i question everybody. >> yeah, we felt that it was so -- it's so sad that, we thought it was a form of torture to him. he being autistic, he had no way to express it, no way to tell. >> thanks to abbi bow dro for that report. congress are trying to pass laws dealing specifically with this type of abuse. i want to thank you for joining me. the safety of our kids. this is a subject near and dear to my heart. i hope this program has made a difference. i'm mike galanos. if you have osteoarthritis knee pain synvisc-one treats it right at the source and helps you get back to doing the things you love. synvisc-one is the only treatment that can give

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homemade porn, snapped on cell phones, teens have taken naked pics and sending it to other teens is called texting. they're charged with crimes. but many don't seem to care. 36 school kids gunned down in chicago the last school year. the violence is only getting worse. neighbors say nothing is being done to stop it. this "prime news" special edition, parent alert, starts now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com tonight, we're going to concentrate on our kids and some of the scary things they're doing. it's our jobs as parents to protect our children. we know there are people out to

get our kids. but sometimes we have to watch out for our children because they're hurting themselves. case in point, sex thing. it's gotten so out of hand. where teens use their cell phones to send suggestive messages, or naked photos of themselves to other teens. and some kids are being charged with child pornography. the consequences of sexting can follow them really the rest of their lives. so why are there new cases every week, like here in richmond, virginia? nude photos of students were found on a computer drive at a middle school. in idaho, a teen sent a racy photo to her boyfriend. now it's all over the school. prosecutors are deciding whether to charge these kids. when is this going to stop? how are we going to get the message to these kids that it's wrong? joining me to talk about it, an adolescent psychologist who just did a study on sexting. susan, good to have you with us. i think parents hear this and they're wondering, how prevalent

is this, how worried should i be. what numbers are you seeing? >> i don't think you should be worried, but it very prif lest. i would say there's about 66% of the population is actually sexting right now. and that might be an underestimation. >> two out of three? that's a big number. >> right. it's part of the new culture. i think we really have to look at what kids are doing today. they're really expressing their sexuality through sexting. it could be a mating call on one hand. >> so two out of three teens we're talking about are doing this. >> right. >> susan, i want to get your take on this. from what i've read, a lot of the cases seem to be the boys ask for the photo, the image to be sent and the girls are obliging, is that what you're seeing? >> no. no, no, no. first of all, it's not just kids. we should understand that. i look at people 13 to 72, and everybody is sexting. >> so everybody's doing it is this. >> the largest group, 73% were people age 20 to 26. >> okay. >> those are people who know the

consequences. but i really think that everybody's doing it. some are doing it just -- girls are doing it just to say, hey, you want to hook up. they willingly send their own pictures. not necessarily being asked. >> so they're just doing it on their own? it's not like the boys are coercing them? >> no, i found only 2% of the people felt pressured to sext. that means 98% of the people are doing it with their own free will. >> okay. it seems to be it's the technology. a girl wouldn't just wa walk up to a boy and, i'll use that same analogy again, and hand over the 8 x 10 of her naked self. the inhibitions drop. i e-mail you or sex lt you or something, you're not getting that visceral reaction of the eye-to-eye contact, right? >> that's true. but we have a culture that is hyper sexualized. i'm sure you've seen very sexy looking young girls, you go to

any middle school or high school, you would be surprised what they're showing in the raw. what they're showing on sext is not that different. they are stripping a little bit more and they are also using video chats a lot that parents may not be aware of. >> so you're saying -- i mean, when i was growing up, i mean, just the thought of the embarrassment, the parental consequences, is this a new generation? and they're not thinking that way? >> it's an absolutely new generation. i would say it's like a sexual revolution. just like in the '60s when parents said, what do you mean you're moving in with your boyfriend? there's make love, not war. we have a whole new sexual revolution going on. and we have to look at the way the kids are thinking about themselves and their sexuality, not just what they're sending through sex. >> do the kids understand the consequences? >> i asked do the parents understand the consequences. most the times the kids are getting away it. the more we try to control it more and more, they just go underground and do whatever it is they want to do.

>> what's a parent going to do? two out of three kids are doing it. you want to get the message out there. this image, if it gets out on the internet, could haunt you the rest of your life. >> you know, it would, but a lot of the kids are much too savvy for that. i had a 16-year-old in my office yesterday who said, you know, maybe you don't want to put that in a text message, and she says it doesn't matter what's on facebook. when i apply for college or a job, i just delete it or put it on hold or change my facebook page. i think parents have to do two things. they have to put a gps for each child so that they can navigate through life. we're not going to be there for each little thing and we will not be able to control them. secondly, i think cell phone companies can add a little screen that says, are you sure you want to send this picture? now? later? delete? researchers showed that if you have a pause at a specific time, that it will reduce risky behavior and maybe help impulsive behavior so people

don't send all the sexts. but we're not going to stop it all. >> i like your idea with the cell phone. because kids are so impulsivmpu. just to make them thing, one more second before they send that shot. susan, i wish we had more time. hope to talk to you again soon about this. >> thank you very much. >> so how do you punish kids for sexting? that's another question. one judge ordered house arrest for a 15-year-old boy who received naked photos of a girl. both teens banned from the cell phones. community service. she has to write a paper. i think this judge got it right. more on his take coming up. úapaa well, this is new... i'm working on my digestive health., whatcha eatin'? yoplus. it's a yogurt for digestive health. here...blackberry pomegranate. i can't find my hand.

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welcome back. it's about time someone got it right on how to punish kids for sexting, sending of nude images on a cell phone. a judge in ohio is on the right track here. we shouldn't charge teens as sex offenders, but we can't just slap them on st wrist. he punished two teens, a girl who sent a boy a nude picture of herself and the boy is also accused of taking another nude photo of a girl on his cell phone. 100 hours of community service and counseling for both of them. the girl has to write a paper on the dangers of sexting. for the boy, 30 days of house arrest. they both have to surrender their cell phone. i have to hand it to the judge, good move here. i spoke about the case with lisa bloom, an anchor for in session and cnn legal analyst. we spoke to the judge himself, mike powell. so, judge, thanks for being with us. personally, i applaud you. nice job. how did you come to this

decision? >> well, as in all cases that we have involving juveniles, mike, we take into consideration we're not dealing with little adults. we know that adolescence is more than chronology. and we know that young people, because of the way their brains are wired, are risk takers, and this sexting that we're seeing now is really just our modern technology intersenting with the facts of youth. and so we took that into consideration. you know, these two young people that i had in front of me yesterday, there was nothing about their history that indicated that they were bad actors. they had no prior history with the court. and there was nothing to indicate that what happened here was -- had any deviant sexual motivation. so we wanted to craft a disposition that helped them, that hopefully sent a message to the community, to deter others from engaging in this type of

conduct. and also to hold them accountable. >> judge, i mean, did you realize that, you're kind of a trail blazer in this. because we -- you know, this is new, let's face it. it's new, it's not a good thing what we're seeing here. but we've seen other parts of the country, i think they've gone too far with charging them as sex offenders, or looking at felony child porn charges. but it shouldn't be just a slap on the wrist. how difficult was it for you to come up with something that justice has been served here? >> well, i have a lot of help here. you know, i don't approach a case like this as the lone ranger. juvenile courts do a lot of social work. and we have a lot of social workers here. we have counselors and psychologists. and when these cases came in the door, i got together with them and said, look, we're going to be faced with some sexting cases and we need to put together a disposition that is going to appropriately address the type of conduct that we have here. >> nice job. lisa, i think the judge set the

table right out of the gate by thinking ahead. knowing these cases are coming down the pike. >> this is a very reasonable approach. hey, how about taking into fact the teenagers actually teenagers. like we used to do stupid things like mooning or flashing, they do it, too, they just have the technology so it makes it more dangerous because it becomes child porn. what prosecutors and judges in other states have done is said, this is a felony. we're going to potentially to potentially many years in jail. or register you as a sex offender for the rest of your life. that is ridiculous. of course they shouldn't be doing it, it's a bad idea. the photos are out there forever and they're technically child porn. they should learn not to do it. this is a very reasonable approach. it's based on educating the kids. actually teaching them something so they don't do this in the future without damaging the rest of their lives. hats off to you, judge. >> thank you very much. >> call in, 1-877-tell-hln is the phone number.

lisa, let me stay with you on this one. you and i have talked about this topic a lot. should others, and i think the answer is yes, but how would others look at this and say, that's the way we need to go? >> what i think we need is a change in the law. vermont has proposed an exception to child porn laws for underage kids who are simply taking pictures of themselves and sending them to each other, not intended for commercial gain. what some of the prosecutors and judges have said in other states are, my hands are tied. if they take a picture of an underage person and send it, that's felony child porn and i don't have any other options. this judge, in the state of ohio, found another option, and good for him. i think in other states they could also find other options. maybe we need to change the law to say that children are not child pornographers just for engaging in boneheaded behavior. >> we want to deal with the real child pornographers. judge, were there people in your ear saying throw the book at them, trying to tell you what to

do? >> did you have pretty even keeled approach to this? >> i think it was an even keeled approach. i didn't hear any noise from any sector that we needed to throw the book at these kids. and, you know, the prosecutor didn't charge these kids with felonies. and could have. she charged them with misdemeanors. and they took an even-handed approach to it also i thought. >> we'll continue our conversation with judge mike powell and lisa bloom. continuing on about how to punish these kids, we're talking 13 and 14-year-olds. it is wrong to sext, to send a naked picture of yourself. we want to know about self-respect issues here. but a judge got it right. more with mike powell and lisa wi th his secretary! she's 23 years old! - oh, come on. - enough! you get half and you get half. ( chirp ) team three, boathouse? ( chirp ) oh yeah-- his and hers. - ( crowd gasping ) - ( chirp ) van gogh? ( chirp ) even steven.

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we're talking about sexting here. we hear about it way too often. one judge has nailed it. 15-year-old boy and 15-year-old girl not facing the felony charges. but they will pay a price. let's rejoin the conversation now with attorney lisa bloom, and the judge, mike powell. hey, judge, what was the reaction from the family, from the kids themselves, and so forth? >> my staff tells me that the families were fairly receptive to the dispositions in the case. that they wanted something to be done that would hopefully send a message to their child that they can't continue to do this. but at the same time they didn't want their children to be made an example of. and hopefully we were able to catch that balance. >> lisa, isn't that it? we talked about that as well. what strikes the right balance? how do you get through to that 14 or 15-year-old that this isn't kids' play?

>> i think education is so important. kids are completely unaware that sending a naked picture of themselves over a cell phone could subject them potentially to years in prison. we're getting the message out on this program. the judge is getting the message out by sending kids to education counseling. this is a brave new world. kids are handed a cell phone with a camera on it. what do you think they're going to do? oh, i think i'll take a naked picture of myself. that's the adolescent knuckleheaded thing to do. they need to learn that's a major violation of the law in any part of the country. delete it, don't send it on. you're distributing child porn. they need to be aware of what the legal consequences are. >> you look at those numbers there, 39% of teens have sent the message, or the post. 48% receiving. you know, that's a big number. when we talk legislation, lisa, do you think we're catching up? obviously rulings like this, and decisions like this from judge powell help us out. >> i think we have a long way to go, because it could still be

considered child porn. judge, what exactly happened here? were the boys taking pictures of themselves or a girl and it was september on? >> i don't think there were any -- any of this happened without consent. the girl that was involved was charged with sending a picture of herself to the boy and then the boy was charged of taking a picture of another girl that was on the phone. >> if somebody's got a picture, and then they send it on to the rest of the school, there's been at least one girl who's committed suicide because of that. so that's a far more serious offense in my view than someone taking a picture of themselves, sending it on to a boyfriend. clearly a bad idea, but sending a picture without someone's consent is even worse. >> we've seen that a lot, lisa. and judge, i'm familiar as well. they're a couple. let's say they're a couple of 15-year-olds. they break up. now the angry guy sends that picture to 50 of his friends. so with that said, judge, let me ask you, how does the punishment change? and i know it's somewhat

hypothetical. but it's got to be more severe on that kid who sends out the shot. >> well, certainly the motivation for disseminating materials like that is going to be a factor that i'll take into consideration in what an appropriate disposition in a case will be. nothing like that happened in this case. >> right. let's get another call in. darcy in pennsylvania. hi, darcy, your quhent or question here? >> caller: my question is for the judge. >> yeah. >> caller: these are both 15-year-old children. i'm grateful for what you've done, first off. but the boy has been sentenced, if i understand, to house arrest. the girl, though, from my understanding, is the one that initiated the pictures? why was she not sentenced also to house arrest? >> you know, i don't want to get too much into the facts of each of these cases, but i will say that we thought that there were some differences in the motivations and the conduct

involved, and because of that, there was a different sentence in the girl's case than from the boy's case. >> it wasn't because she was a girl and he was a boy? >> it was not. >> okay. >> certainly there are gender motivations, or we feel there are different gender motivations for this type of conduct that's involved. but there were differences in the conduct in these cases that we felt justified. >> judge, again, sounds like applause all the way around from lisa and i and our callers. lisa, always good talking to you as well. >> thank you. coming up, young kids gunned down in the streets of chicago. more than 30 kids killed this year alone. what's being done to stop the violence? that's coming up. @y@eiñúíñ

in just this school year, more than 30 school-age children are dead. their faces are posted online by the "chicago tribune." silent reminders of the growing mountain of grief. >> they come by here and they do this, and they come by here in cars and families come and cry. you can hear them in my house screaming. >> reporter: diane started this memorial in a vacant lot hoping to shock the city into action. she started with 30 stones marked with the names of 30 young victims. the day with 153 stones, she's the one who's shocked. who is failing these kids? >> we all are. >> is it the city? is it the police? is it the schools? >> we all are. >> reporter: the youngest victim remembered here was only 10. among them, 16-year-old blair holt, the aspiring songwriter whose death sparked protests and

demands for action. but two years later, the violence is getting worse. not better. we wanted to know why more young people are dying this year than last, and what is being done about it. but community activists tell us they're at a loss to find any simple explanation. the recent discovery of a 15-year-old who was beaten, shot in the head and burned took the out-of-control violence to a frightening level. chicago's father michael flagger thought it was time to put out an sos. that's a pretty strong message. wa are you trying to say? >> i think it is strong. i think it's a radical move, but i think it's a radical problem. >> reporter: he ordered the church's flag to be hung upside down, a symbol of distress. this is an epidemic. if we had this many chicago young people dying of swine flu, what kind of resources would you see coming to this city? >> there would be this great influx of resources to say let's stop this, deal with this.

>> reporter: but because it's violence, what's happening? >> we're hiding it. we're ignoring it. we're denying the problems. >> reporter: but there's no denying the loss. martell stevens is adjusting to his loss with youthful energy and optimism, in a city where dreams are disappearing, he believes he will one day walk again. >> that was david mattingly from our sister network cnn. the chicago police department, chicago public schools are working together to curb the violence by stepping up curfew enforcement as well as recruiting more officers to the police department's mobile strike force. and also expanding the text-to-tip program to let students text anonymous tips to police. teenage girl dies in a car crash. there are gruesome photos. her parents weren't even allowed to see the body. somehow these pictures get out on the internet. and there are creeps out there sending them back to the family. we're going to talk to the parents coming up.

this is a headline that will get you. bullied to death, an 11-year-old boy hanged himself because he was getting made fun of at school. kids repeatedly called him gay. mom says she asked the school for help. but the bullying never stopped. could this have been prevented. thanks again for being with us on this special edition of "prime news" tonight. we're learning parents of some of the scary things happening to kids. this story i can't get out of my mind. every day there's a mother and father in california. they live in fear they're going to stumble on the gruesome photos of their dead daughter, the 18-year-old killed in a car crash. it was so bad the coroner wouldn't let her parents identify the body. but now anyone in the world can

see these horrible photos because two california highway patrol officers sent their family and friends pictures of the accident. now it's all over the internet. sadistic creeps are actually taunting her family. we're going to speak to the mom and dad in just a minute. but first let's get back to the beginning, how this all started. let's bring in richelle carey to catch us up. >> there are nine pictures of the car crash that killed nikki. this all happened on halloween day back in 2006. she took the keys to her dad's car. she wasn't allowed to drive. let's back track a few years here. when nikki was just 8, she had to undergo intensive raid yoigs for a brain tumor. doctors told her parents the treatment's effect on her young brain could impair her judgment. her family says that's why she tried cocaine the summer before the accident. and also had cocaine in her system the day of the wreck. in fact, they thought about visiting a psychiatrist that very day.

someone that was a specialist on brain disorders. cops say nikki was driving the porsche close to 100 miles an hour when she crossed the median and slammed into a concrete toll booth. the car was so mangled, nikki didn't have a chance. two officers at the scene took the nine photos we're talking about. this is the only one we're going to show you. one officer said he passed them along to family and friends as a warning about the dangers of reckless driving. nine photos. now at least on 1600 websites. some with horrendous captions. they say things like, spoiled little brat who is not so pretty anymore. just ridiculously horrible stuff, mike. >> that is unbelievable. okay, richelle. thanks for that. right now, nikki's parents are in the middle of a legal fight to stop these pictures from spreading. this affects all of us. it could happen to any of us. anything goes on the internet. i spoke with nikki's parents, and also their attorney.

our condolences from prime news. that wound still has to be fresh. thank you for telling your story. and thank you for fighting for what we should all have the right to privacy in a case like this. cristos, what is so horrifying, as a father myself, to think that someone would e-mail me pictures, or e-mail-e-mailed you pictures days after your daughter died. what came your way? >> an e-mail came, but it started off where there was thousands of e-mails sent out. and i got an e-mail, the one that i opened up was, oh, daddy, i'm alive. but, yeah, it was -- there were e-mails all over the country. >> and these were the -- >> the pictures attached. >> these were the crime scenes, the crash scene photos, right? >> correct. they were police evidence pictures that basically were for

the investigation purposes, not for the public to see. >> leslie, i'm sure you can't even fathom that someone would taunt you over the tragedy of your daughter's death? >> no, i can't. i don't understand it. it's been something that's been hard enough as it is. we've lost our daughter. and we seem to have lost so much since then. and we don't understand why this is something that is being allowed to happen to us. you know, we hate to see that this could happen in today's age of the internet. this just needs to be handled correctly right away. >> cristo, so now you find out the pictures are out there. they're obviously sent back to you. who did you go to then, the highway patrol? did you ask the questions? and what did they tell you? >> actually, initially, the initial steps were e-mails went to my brother and brother-in-law, and my brothers

and my brother-in-law contacted the california highway patrol. and they said they would look into it. once they identified the pictures as their pictures, i went down there to talk to them. and i asked if there was anything they could do to help us get them off the website. at that point there was 35 websites that had the pictures on. >> keith, the pictures are out there. what was done to try and reign them back in? it's difficult once they're on the internet, it's like wildfire. but go ahead. >> well, initially we worked with a company called reputation defenders. michael furtack. and got with michael to try to get these weapon sites to take down these photographs. and from a legal perspective, we worked with reputation defenders and sent out cease and desist letters. >> and what happened with that? >> it was too late in that it was already out there. once it pro live rates, it kind of grows and goes from there. but we had a tremendous amount

of success at getting most of the portals to take down these pictures. but what we found is they continued to come back over and over again. so we continue with the reputation defenders and cease and desist letters in contacting the portals and asking them to remove the offensive photographs. >> christos, one question. why are you going public with this fight? >> you know, at this point, we tried so hard to do everything through our attorneys and through reputation defenders, who have done such an incredible job for us, all the parties. and we've got to a point where the case was dismissed initially. the california highway patrol, the state were not willing to help us in any way, shape or form. and we felt that if we would try and get help from the public, and they see the story and see how it's affected our family, and that it will affect so many other people if this happens to someone else. >> leslie, you have three other

daughters. >> mm-hmm. >> have they seen the pictures? and how are you protecting them from that? >> no, thankfully they have not seen the pictures. they don't go on myspace like their friends do. they don't answer those e-mails. we keep them off the internet. they only go on the internet with us when they have to. >> we wish you the best in keeping that horror away from your other three daughters. leslie, let me ask you to close out. how are you guys getting through this? i mean, again, you lost your daughter, which is bad enough. but now this. >> yeah. our faith in god is how we're getting through this. >> well, thank you again, because the sobering fact is this could happen to any of us. and it is just appalling at this day and age, leslie, as you said, that this could come back at us. it's not enough you're going through the horror and tragedy of losing a daughter in such a horrific way. but it would come back at you

over and over again. now you've got to be concerned about your other three daughters seeing these horrific photos. thank you again. >> coming up we're going to pick up on that part of it, how it could happen to you or i. what about our privacy, in a tragedy like this. we're going to talk to our experts and hear from you. that's coming up. so, what's the problem? these are hot. we're shipping 'em everywhere. but we can't predict our shipping costs. dallas. detroit. different rates. well with us, it's the same flat rate. same flat rate. boston. boise? same flat rate. alabama. alaska? with priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service. if it fits, it ships anywhere in the country for a low flat rate. dude's good. dude's real good. dudes. priority mail flat rate boxes only from the postal service. a simpler way to ship.

this one is still so hard to fathom, that a family dealing with the tragedy of losing their daughter in a horrific car crash, yet there are highway patrol officers who leak these photos out, so the nightmare can be re-lived by this family over and over again. cast they be protected? can we be protected? steven clark, criminal defense attorney, and also computer

forensic expert. these two officers leaked these photos. shouldn't they pay a price here? >> you know, mike, when you hear stories like this, it not only shows you that there's a dark side to the internet, but there's absolute evil in this world. i think what these officers did was unfortunate. i think this is going to be a learning tool for a lot of other officers. the pain and suffering that could be suffered by doing something like this, number one, they shouldn't have been leaked like this just to friends and family. i'm surprised the state of california has not taken a proactive stance to get their property back. because those digital pictures are actually the property of california. >> yeah. let's get a call in. debbie in georgia, hi, debbie, your thoughts here? >> caller: right. okay. >> go ahead, debbie. >> caller: oh, i can talk now? >> yeah, go ahead, debbie. >> caller: i just wanted to say, i was watching your program just now, watch it every day. and i've lost a child. i lost my son in an automobile

accident. and i just wanted the parents that lost their daughter to know that my prayers are with them. and i cannot imagine those law officers being so cruel. there is no greater love than between a parent and their child. >> debbie, thanks for the call. and the kind condolences for the family. steven, let's talk about the lawsuit. this one baffles. so the family sues. as they look for some kind of justice here, as they continued their fight, they sue california highway patrol for negligence, invasion of privacy, infliction of emotional harm, yet the judge dismisses the case citing a conduct of the officers that was utterly reprehensible but not against the law. you read those charges, and it's game, set and match legally, right, steven? >> here's the problem, mike, where the right of privacy of a family in this situation has not caught up with the internet. what the court said is that a deceased individual does no longer has a right of privacy.

and that's terrible. >> that's ridiculous. >> there has to be news and you have to get the news out. but for the officers to do this, i think it's disgraceful. and they should have been held civilly liable for the torment these people have gone through. completely unnecessary. because once you start the train reaction now with the internet, it's very difficult to stop. you can stop it one place, but it starts again like topsoil. and that's where i think right of privacy needs to extend to the deceased. at least for a period to let the family heal. >> nikki in texas. nikki, your thoughts here? >> caller: okay. i saw them about an hour ago, and i really think that the judge should do something to make sure all these pictures get taken off the internet. >> why did you look, nikki? i've got to ask you. >> caller: okay. i was watching the news. and i saw something about it. and i was like, well, hey, i'm going to see if i can find some

pictures. and i actually did. and they showed the pictures. >> they're pretty easy to find. nikki, thanks for that. by the way, us doing this story, please don't go look. it's already bad enough for the family. there's no need. they're bad pictures and it's a tragedy here. brad, we want to continue with this. guys, we're going to have to leave it there. hopeful tli this family will get justice and hopefully the laws will catch up to the internet, so a family like this, and all of us, a grieving family can have the privacy that we deserve. steven, john, thanks, guys, we appreciate it. again, this headline gets you. bullied to death. look at that innocent face, an 11-year-old hanged himself because he was getting made fun of at school. kids repeatedly calling him gay. mom says she asked the school for help but the bullying didn't stop. how can we prevent this and protect our kids. this is one way of getting vitamins and minerals.

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how could school bullies be so cruel to drive an 11-year-old boy to commit suicide? this poor guy was only in 6th grade. his mother found him hanging from an extension cord. mom said he was tormented every day. she tried everything to stop it. so how did the school allow this to happen? randi kaye from our sister network cnn has more. >> reporter: by all accounts he was a good kid. a boy scout who went to church every sunday with his mother and prayed every morning before school. the 6th grader started at the new leadership charter school in springfield, massachusetts, last september, where his mom says he was bullied daily. >> some people may say he was flamboyant, he was very dramatic. >> reporter: she says she never asked her son if he was gay. but she says students called him gay, and feminine, and told him, you act gay. the school's chairman of the board. would that be tolerated at your school? >> that's bullying. that's harassing. no.

>> how was it able to go on for eight months or so? >> well, unless you expel every student every time they do something wrong, it's a matter of working at it. >> reporter: the chairman says parents and students sign a contract that prohibits abuse among students. but when carl's mother says she told the principal her son was bullied in the bathroom -- >> she said, we can't patrol the bathrooms. >> my question to you is, why not? >> could be a privacy issue. really don't know. >> reporter: eight months into the school year, the taunting finally became too much. while his mother cooked dinner downstairs, carl wrapped an electrical cord around his neck upstairs. when he didn't come down for dinner, his mother headed to his room. she found carl in the landing outside his third-floor bedroom. he had hanged himself. he was just 11. what happened? you called 911? >> we called 911. my daughter actually got me a knife and i actually cut the extension cords myself to let him down. >> reporter: mrs. walker says

just hours before carl took his life, a female student had threatened to beat him up and kill him. the school's chairman told me administrators were well aware carl was was being bullied. he says the sixth grader met with the school psychologist almost every day but would not share any of the details of what was discussed because he says it was confidential. the school is investigating if policy was followed. do you feel the school did everything it could have done to protect this 11-year-old boy? >> i'm not sitting here telling you we're perfect. as best as i can tell right now, it looks as if we followed policy and procedures as we should have. >> so many viewers are asking how could this happen. how did this happen? >> it's a tragedy with carl because he was a beautiful, young kid. how, why it happens, you know, i don't have an answer for that. >> i just wanted you to know that -- >> in this sympathy card from carl's school, an apology from a

student. >> i'm so sorry for making fun of carl because he couldn't do pushups. >> on this national day of imount st. helens, a memorial for the boy with a big smile who wanted to be president so he could change the world. randi kaye, cnn, springfield, massachusetts. coming up a story equally infuriating. teamers abused of abusing special needs students, kids locked away, duct taped and even wrestled to the ground. >> i trust no one. now i question everybody. >> we felt that it was so sad that -- it was a form of torture to him. being autistic, he had no way to express it. >> ints lightsed. it's happening all across the country. right now, there's a nurse saving a life in baltimore. 20 minutes later, she'll bring one into the world in seattle. later today, she'll help an accident victim in kansas.

how can one nurse be in all these places? through the nurses she taught in this place. johnson & johnson knows, behind every nurse who touches a life... there's a nurse educator... who first touched them. ♪ you're a nurse ♪ you make a difference

>> we just wonder how could this happen in our schools. abby, an investigative correspondent at cnn has more. >> no, no, no. >> reporter: this is garrett peck. he's one of six and a half million special needs children in u.s. public schools. he's 8 years old, loves animals, and has autism. children like garrett have become pat of a intense debate. george miller says tougher laws are needed. >> very offense special needs children are subjected to policies of seclusion and policies of restraint that have, in fact, turned out to be lethal in a number of instances.

children have died at the hands of the people that are supposed to be taking care of them in the public school system. >> reporter: gao investigated the misuse of time-out, which is supposed to be used to refocus a child but is often used as a punishme punishment. >> your turn. >> reporter: that's what happened to garrett. according to the utah department of human services. garrett's mother picked him up early one day from school, but she didn't see him in class. so she asked the teacher where he was. garrett was put in this three-sided cubicle in the corner of room. >> i just heard garrett say, i want my mom. he walked out around that corner, and he was covered in marker on his eyelids, on his hair, face, clothes, legs, arms, everything. >> reporter: a report by utah's department of child and family services found that garrett, who was then just 7 years old, had been in time-out for a minimum of two and a half hours.

>> what were they thinking? why is this mom letting this person do this to me? why am i here? i trust no one now. now i question everybody. >> yeah. we felt that it was so sad that it was a form of torture to him, but he being autistic had no way to express it, no way to tell. >> thanks to abby for that report. members of congress are taking action attempting to pass laws dealing specifically with this type of abusele. i want to thank you for joining me. the safety of our kids is the subject that is near and dear to my heart. i hope this program has made a difference. i'm mike galaganos.