Tuesday, July 07, 2015

L. A. schools roll out campaign against sexting; what is being done in Joplin area?

The Dropbox scandal that hit Joplin High School a couple of months ago (and hasn't been heard from since) is a local example of a problem that is growing across the United States, sexting or the sending of sexual or nude photos of underage boys and girls.

The Los Angeles Times reports today on how the L. A. school disrict is attempting to get the program under control:

The Los Angeles Unified School District plans to roll out what may be the state's most ambitious educational campaign around the issue. Officials are creating a video, lesson plans and handouts on sexting, which they plan to distribute to all schools beginning this fall.

L.A. Unified Police Chief Steven Zipperman said the campaign will teach students about the dangers of sexting, including possible criminal violations of child pornography and obscenity laws and the personal consequences.

"We're really trying to get the message out that before you push that send button, please think about what it may mean to you — not just the criminal factor but the embarrassment, your future employment, college entrance. What you do now matters, and they need to understand that," Zipperman said.

I would be interested in knownig, how is the sexting problem being handled in area school districts? How do you think it should be handled?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

The 8th graders go through a digital citizenship curriculum that includes a section on sexting and its consequences. Each 8th grader is supposed to complete this curriculum before he/she can take home the iPad.