Sexting and Cyber Safety
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By Lauren Barack -- School Library Journal, 06/15/2009
Gina Healy didn’t expect to hold an assembly with her middle schoolers about sexting. But after the school newspaper wrote about an alleged incident involving 8th graders sending nude photos over cell phones, Healy consulted with the Newton, PA, police department—and then talked to her students.
“It’s a new twist to old issues,” says Healy, principal at F.A. Day Middle School. “How do you tell someone you like them in 2009?”
While Healy understands the lure technology holds over today’s teens, she believes it’s critical for them to grasp the ramifications of sending images or words digitally, where they can be duplicated, passed to anyone, and stay permanently available.
“It’s one thing when you think you’re putting up your picture just for your best friends,” she says. “But it’s often for all to see and it’s important for them to understand that distinction. It’s very hard for them.”
A recent survey found that 20 percent of teens ages 13–19 had sent or posted nude or semi-nude images or videos of themselves, according to the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group.
The controversy around sexting is growing in part because of more incidents, but also because of the legal ramifications involved. Sending nude images of underage children through digital media can be considered child pornography, and those taking and transmitting the images can be charged—whether they themselves are underage or not.
A recent case involved teens in Greensburg, PA, charged with distributing and possessing child pornography, and the story prompted teen librarian Lindsey Dunn to write a post on the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA)’s blog earlier this year.
“If this is being considered child pornography, then I definitely think teen librarians need to be bringing this up in Internet safety classes,” says Dunn, who’s worked at the Eva Perry Library in Apex, NC, for the last three years. “Most people say this is ridiculous, but if any legal precedent is set, then this could mean something more serious for teens.”
Despite news accounts, Healy says she’s never found any physical evidence, including photos, of the alleged sexting at her school. But she’s now weaving the issue into her regular school assemblies about cyber bullying.
But to Dunn, sexting is more complicated than simple cyber bullying. After all, sometimes the image or conversation is meant to be between just two people—a high-tech version of one sweetheart sending a mash note or a pin-up image to the other. The problem today lies in the eternal nature of bits and bytes—digital photographs never dog-ear or fade, and embarrassing mash notes never disintegrate, nor are burnable in a fireplace.
“The bullying could come with what someone does with that picture,” Dunn says. “Because once it’s out there in cyberspace, it’s out there forever.”
