Discovering the Wealth of Our Students!

It has been said many times before, “A picture is worth a thousand words”.  However, “sexting”, a fairly new phenomenon among teenagers, involves sending nude or near nude pictures of themselves via cell phone text messages.  Sexting has proven to be a costly mistake for teens across the country.  Recent national news stories share a common thread of how a middle or high school girl takes a nude picture of herself with her cell phone and then sends it to her boyfriend.  Before or after they brake up, the ex-boyfriend forwards the nude photo to friends and soon after, it is forwarded to large groups of other teenagers. 

Teens involved with sexting have served jail time and/or suspension from school, been placed on a sex offender register, faced continuous ridicule at school and in one recent case, committed suicide.  Far-reaching consequences may also include loss of college entry and job opportunities years after they to graduate from high school.

We must educate and remind our teens about the moral and ethical issues that surround social networking, electronic messaging and any other modes of communicating.  Help is available if you are seeking assistance with how to talk with your teen.  There are websites available and your local school counselors may also offer assistance.