Boy, have times changed! Almost as quickly as children are learning their ABCs, they are also mastering technology—the internet and cell phones—and, soon enough, the responsibility that comes with it.
Never has this been truer than it is in an age where cyberbullying and sexting have become words to describe the risks that come about when children make the wrong choices. This is where you, as educators, come in.
When it comes to sexting—the sharing of nude photos over cell phones—it is natural to assume that much of what is happening amounts to media hype over one or two cases. However, as journalist Anne Collier of NetFamilyNews, points out, “as of today sexting cases have been reported in well over a dozen states and the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy recently released a survey finding that some 20% of teens have engaged in sexting.” While it’s important to highlight the positive—80% of teens have not engaged in sexting—20% is still enough not to regard the topic as media hype alone.
Knowing that sexting exists is step one. Step two? Understanding why kids are engaging in such behavior. For that, Anne explains that “sexting seems to be a volatile mix of normative teen sexual curiosity, impulsive risky behavior (also pretty normative), a fascination with what digital technology can do, and digital natives’ love of sharing information and media online and on phones.”
Besides the uncomfortable nature of the topic at hand, there is the reality of the legal troubles children may find themselves in by sexting. As Anne explains, “taking nude or sexually explicit photos of a minor—whether of oneself or anyone else—could be prosecuted as production of child pornography, as defined here by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.” That information alone would likely scare kids from engaging in any sexting-type behavior, however many don’t yet know of these legal implications.
Many teens who engage in sexting believe that when they share photos of themselves, they are doing so with someone they trust. But as Anne points out, “It doesn’t always occur to people that a boyfriend or girlfriend could become an ex-boyfriend or -girlfriend, and something shared in confidence can be shared with others out of anger or revenge after a couple has broken up. That distribution of very personal photos can be extremely humiliating and life-changing in a very negative way.” This is certainly another important point to raise when explaining the potential fallout from nude photo-sharing. After all, no one—especially a teenager—wants to find themselves at the center of negative attention from their peers. But there are many causes of sexting, from peer pressure that’s a form of cyberbullying to impulsive party behavior to blackmail.
So what has worked for schools and educators in the hopes of stopping teens from sexting? “The best stories I’ve seen is when school administrators use these incidents as “teachable moments” for students, whether in the form of school-wide assemblies or just inviting the students involved and their parents into the office to sort through what happened and why. But I think, too, there’s an opportunity for schools to do some great preventive work by giving students the facts on sexting, as well as teaching digital citizenship and media literacy throughout the curriculum, incorporating news stories and research about young people’s use of digital media into the instruction,” Anne recommends.
Get more information on sexting, cyberbullying and other hot topics from Anne’s site, NetFamilyNews. For Tips to Prevent Sexting, go to ConnectSafely.org, a project of Net Family News, Inc.
