Lubbock Educators, Administrators Concerned About “Sexting” Among Teenagers

teens-texting194090034967Lubbock High School Principal Doug Young knew “sexting” was becoming widespread among teenagers when parents and administrators started showing concern.

“I think it’s still fairly new,” he said. “I think maybe our community has not been exposed to it as much as others. It was becoming more prevalent during that time. I think the local media picked up on that, as well as the school, parents and thus the forum to talk about ways to address it.”

Finding ways to address sexting is something educators, school administrators and parents have growing concern over.

Sexting is a colloquial term that refers to the sending or receiving of sexual suggestive text messages or pictures through cell phones. The website www.urbandictionary.com defines it as the act of text messaging someone in the hopes of having a sexual encounter with them later. But, sexting has often been associated with teenagers or even young adults, leaving it as an issue parents and school administrators believe they have to deal with.

With sexting showing up in the local news and still prevalent in the national media, Young said there have been forums and the Lubbock Independent School District has hosted roundtable discussion on the topic. He said everyone is aware of sexting and the implications it could have. He also said technology’s rapid growth should not be blamed for sexting and the issues that may come with it.

“Obviously, technology can be used however the user intends to use. What’s more surprising to me is the use for that purpose.” Young said. “Why would somebody want to send a picture of themselves to a boyfriend, girlfriend or something like that? That to me is a bigger issue.”sexting-5-300225

Sexting can have many negative implications. Young pointed out how sending inappropriate messages to others renders the sender powerless to control where it ends up.

It’s more than those messages or images ending up in another person’s hands. Young said he has heard of instances at other schools where sexting turns into an issue for law enforcement to dal with. He said sending inappropriate pictures can be considered transportation of child pornography, which could lead to fines or a 5-to 20-prison sentence, according to the U.S. Code, Title 18, Part 1, Chapter 110, § 2,252.

It all starts with parents educating their children for Karen Griffith Gryga, CEO of Lipstick Wisdom, a website geared toward helping mothers by posting informative stories and content. One of those informative stories was focused on sexting. Although sexting definitely has its negative aspects, Gryga said, there are positive aspects to it as well. But if parents do not do their part in educating their children, Gryga said it can take a turn for the worst.

“Once it’s out there, it’s out there,” she said. “When you’re young, you don’t really think about the implications of things. As you’ve probably seen in the news, there’s some kids that have been seriously hurt by the fact that they sent something to a boyfriend or a friend, thinking that’s where things end and it ends up on the web. I’ve seen cases where kids have committed suicide over that.”

Sexting has become relevant to the point where there are campaigns to warn students and young adults about the dangers that come along with it. There are websites such as A Thin Line, which is dedicated to providing facts and stories about sexting.

Kim Spicer, principal at Frenship High School, said sexting is not a huge problem with her students, but it is still an important topic for parents and administrators to talk about. Spicer said text messaging can aid more than just sexting. Parents have to keep cyber bullying and threatening text messages in mind as well.

As a result, Spicer said, all students at Frenship High School are required to take the class Business Communication Information Systems, or BCIS, which focuses on warning students about inappropriate text messaging and cyber bullying. But in both instances, Spicer said it comes down to what students already know before they come to school.Teenagers texting on mobile phones in a home setting

“What is amazing to me, that when you call a parent in, is that they are not monitoring this on their own,” she said. “I don’t know why as a parent, you wouldn’t do that.”

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