FPS staff report
May 12, 2009
Sexting is described as the act of sending sexually explicit messages or photos electronically, primarily between cell phones.
A recent survey conducted by cosmogirl.com and The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy found one in five teen girls (22 percent) with 11 percent of teen girls ages 13-16 years old say they have electronically sent or posted online, nude or semi-nude images of themselves. Almost one in five teen boys (18 percent) say they sent or posted nude/semi-nude images of themselves.
An informational event will be held May 19 at 7 p.m. in the Carrollton High School gymnasium for parents. Parents are welcome to bring their children if they feel they would benefit.
Carrollton Schools Assistant Superintendent Robert Mehno and Juvenile Court Judge John Campbell will speak briefly. Shawna Wills of Community Mental Health is presenting a PowerPoint show and Carroll County Prosecutor Don Burns will speak on the legalities of the consequences, such as a 2nd degree felony and fines. After the presentations, a question-answer session will be held.
Attendees will receive a pamphlet with text messaging abbreviations, informational websites for parents and tips to help parents talk to their children about sexting. Employees of Carroll County juvenile court state a large amount of their recent cases involved theft of cell phones with pornographic pictures of children or posting of pictures on MySpace pages.
The event is being sponsored in collaboration with Carrollton Exempted Village Schools, Community Mental Health, Carroll Co. Juvenile Court, Family and Children First Council, Carroll Co. Prosecutor’s Office; Carroll Co. Dept. of Job and Family Services; Diane Amos of COMPASS, Inc., Kristen Maag Consulting, Alltel Representative Claudia Gerber, Carrollton Police Dept., Carroll Co. Sheriff Dept. and Judge John Campbell.
Those unable to attend may contact the above organizations for additional information. |
