I received the below press post one day last week and after reading it this kind of hit home for me. Not because Sabreena (our 14 year old) daughter is sexting but that fact that we have a teen and know that teens are sexting.
Last week we went to back to school night at Sabreena’s high school and from what I can tell they try to make a pretty conscious effort to stop kids from texting while in class. With that said I am sure kids are finding ways to text at school if they really want to like at lunch or study hall.
Melinda and I make an effort to check Sabreena’s text on a pretty regular basis to make sure all is well and make sure she isn’t texting anything inappropriate. We are pretty trusting of Sabreena hoping she knows the difference between right and wrong and sending a nude picture of herself to anyone is NOT ok or cool.
With so much technology available to kids and peer pressure I can see how easy it would be for a teen to get mixed up in something like this but it is our job as parents to keep our children and teens out of these kinds of situations.
With sexting a growing concern amongst parents and teachers alike, Houston is a city which has stepped up to implement a no “sexting” rule as students return to school. As more teens and celebrities alike are being discovered with nude/semi-nude photos, many will likely follow suit in putting together precautions to stop the issue before it gets even bigger. In a study conducted recently by the National Campaign on sex and tech, it was found that 22 percent of US teenage girls and 18 percent of teenage boys have sent messages or posted images or video online showing them nude or semi-nude.
Predicto Mobile (www.predicto.com), the leading online and text message based survey company, has put together some tips to use until a no “sexting” rule may be implemented in your town:
- Check the school’s cell phone policies. Speak with their teachers about what they are doing to limit text use and find ways you can work together to combat the issue if it becomes a serious problem
- Talk to your kids about the dangers of sexting. Find out who they are chatting with and look at the cell phone bill to see what time of day they are texting the most
- Encourage good academic behavior. Find out when their exams are, offer help with studying, etc.
- Make them work for it. If texting during school gets out of control and you see a spike in your bill, ask your child to get a part time job to cover their text message cell phone plan
- Don’t text them when they are in class. Occasionally you may need to get in touch with your child during school hours, find out when your child has breaks in between classes or what time they take lunch and use that time to send texts
- Petition your cell phone provider to limit cell phone text message service during school hours
“It is great that Houston is finally taking steps to address this growing concern,” says Eyal Yechezkell, CEO of Predicto Mobile. “This is hopefully a chain reaction across America as it’s become one of many issues amongst texting during school. The tips we’ve provided should give parents a better gauge on what they can do to make the texting feature as safe as possible outside the home.”
