WTEN: Albany, New York News, Weather, Sports - Shen takes on growing issue of 'sexting'
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Saratoga County is taking on the growing problem of "sexting". Of the dozen school districts there, officials say there have been cases of kids sending explicit pictures on their cell phones in nearly every single one.
Texting is now a standard way to talk between teens. More recently, the emergence of sexting, or sending pictures of a sexual nature by cell phone, is taking off faster than the pictures can be sent.
"We realize this is becoming a rave among young people," said Shenedehowa School District Superintendant Dr. Oliver Robinson.
At Shenendehowa High School there have been multiple cases already dealt with, but elsewhere in the county, sexting has turned into a worst case scenario for some unsuspecting children.
"A young girl, middle schooler, took a picture of herself and sent it to her boyfriend, thinking it was a kind of 20th century flirting," said Saratoga County District Attorney James Murphy, "The buddy sent it on to other kids, she was humiliated in the school, everybody saw it, it then got picked up in a Dutch porn site."
To prevent a situation like that from happening again, school officials as well as the District Attorney's office are invited both students and parents to the Shenendehowa High School on Monday to talk about sexting
D.A. Murphy prepared a presentation before students and parents, including students as young as middle school aged. He did so with one message in mind - the consequences that can come with a careless 'sext' message.
"You know before you hit that send button, think twice. Is this something I really want to have out on the web that I lose control over immediately?" Murphy posed.
In addition, anyone sexting, whether they're sending or receiving, may also face child pornography charges.
"They might want to go into a line of work that's going to require a background check, and in today's world those things will come up even five and ten years from now. Everything we do today is getting captured," Marti Burnley of CAPTAIN Youth & Family Services said.
Sexting even has the Vermont legislature considering a change to its laws that would legalize the consensual exchange of graphic images between two people 13- to 18-years-old.
The idea is to make sure young people could not face harsh charges with long prison sentences. Supporters say they're not condoning sexting, but that they just don't think teenagers should be prosecuted as sex offenders for consensual conduct.
That bill has not yet come up for a vote.
