Don't be a Teenage Criminal

      It is 11 in the morning and I have been awake for a few hours and I have already sent about 20 text messages, updated my Facebook status, called my mom, made a comment on Instagram, and sent a picture message to a friend. Most students these days have access to these modes of communication and social networking and they are a great way to stay connected when used appropriately. Sadly not all students use these tools properly. The issue that worries me most is that of students sending inappropriate pictures to each other. When I was in the the 10th grade there was a big upheaval in my school. The head cheerleader, a beautiful, smart, senior girl had sent a picture of herself naked to her boyfriend from her phone. They had a big fight and he sent to picture to some of his friends. His friends then sent it almost every other guy in our school district. There is no telling how many people it was eventually sent to and it may still be somewhere on the internet or on someones phone. This devastated the girl. She didn't come back to school for two weeks and even when she did come back she was different. Her parents pressed charges on her ex-boyfriend. I don't know what he was convicted for the crime but if he was, he could've possibly faced jail time and would've been forced to register as a sex-offender because she was underage. If he had been convicted it could've affected the rest of his life. I can't even imagine how everyone involved in the situation felt. I would never want to have to deal with that as an educator or parent and definitely not as a victim. I think it is very important for students to know that sending explicit pictures of themselves or others is against the law while they are underage. Even though in my opinion it is wrong at any age. I think there a many students that aren't aware that this act is against the law. I hope to be able to aid in raising awareness about this danger in schools, especially in the school that I end up teaching in.

Here is an interesting article I read about this topic. Young teenagers 'turned into criminals by sex texts'

-- Life-Long Learner