Educational Development Services, LLC Deborah McCoy Sext Ed for Adults Educational Development Services, LLC Deborah McCoy

Discuss: What exactly is sexting? Is it sexting if a female teen sends a pic of themselves in their bra and underwear? If the sender of a nude image is 18 years old, is it sexting?

Sexting is: When a minor: Knowingly transmits, distributes, publishes or disseminates an electronic communication containing a sexually explicit image of himself. Knowingly possess or knowingly views a sexually explicit image of a minor who is 12 years of age or older.

Sexting Primarily occurs through cell phones, texts, e-mails, on Facebook, Snap Chat and other social networking sites. Illegal in all 50 states; can be child pornography, but in PA Act 198 makes sexting among minors a 2nd or 3rd degree misdemeanor.

Research Associated Press/MTV Study National Campaign to Prevent Teen & Unplanned Pregnancy Research speaks to the prevalence of sexting among youth & attitudes.

AP/MTV Study Study conducted of 1,247 youth on their digital communications and behavior; 30% of both males and females reported sending or receiving nude photos on cell phones and/or computers; 13% of females and 9% of males said they had actually created and sent nude images of themselves;

AP/MTV Study 17% of those surveyed that had received nude images passed those images on to others; 29% of the respondents that had sent self-created nude images shared them with someone they had never met; 61% of the 1,247 youth had felt pressured by someone to forward nude images of themselves.

National Campaign to Prevent Teen & Unplanned Pregnancy Study conducted of 1,280 youth on their digital speech and behavior; 20% reported having sent or posted self-created nude, or semi-nude pictures or videos; The results by gender are 22% of teen girls and 18% of teen boys;

Natl. Campaign Of the 20% that sent images, 15% of them had done so with someone they knew only online; 25% of girls and 33% of boys report they have had nude or semi-nude images originally meant for someone else shared with them.

American Academy of Pediatrics: Middle-School 20% of MS students report receiving a sexually explicit message or photo of someone; 5% report sending a sexually explicit message or photo of themselves to someone; Those who reported seeing a sext were 6 times more likely to be sexually active; Those who reported sending a sext were 4 times more likely to be sexually active

Why? Sexting often occurs between a pair of romantically involved teens, and the images stay solely with those two; Occurs between romantic partners, but the images are shared outside of the relationship; Occurs between two uninvolved parties, but one desires to be in a relationship with the other.

Discuss: Is sexting a problem of there is consent? 2. What are the risks involved with sexting? 3. What can be done for a student who has already engaged in sexting?

Psychological Consequences Humiliation at the hands of peers; Damaged reputation; Loss of friendships & relationships; Loss of status; Bullying & harassment; Permanent humiliation via archives; Loss of self-respect Suicide

The Law

HB 815/PA Act 198 Sexting defined on slide 3; Youth 12 – 17 years old commits a misdemeanor when they knowingly possess or view a sexually explicit image of a minor who is 12 years of age or older; Also commits a misdemeanor when they transmit, distribute, publish or disseminate an electronic communication containing a sexually explicit image of themselves;

HB 815/Act 198 Minor commits a 3rd degree misdemeanor when they knowingly transmit, distribute, publish or disseminate an electronic communication containing a sexually explicit image of another minor who is 12 years of age or older; Minor commits a 2nd degree misdemeanor when they, with the intent to coerce, intimidate, torment, harass or otherwise cause emotional distress to another minor when they:

HB 815/Act 198 Make a visual depiction of any minor in a state of nudity without the knowledge and consent of the depicted minor; or Transmits, distributes, publishes or disseminates a visual depiction of any minor in a state of nudity without the knowledge and consent of the depicted minor; Act 26 may apply to harassment; If minor is 11 or younger, child pornography charges can apply;

Legal Consequences Misdemeanor charges DO NOT apply when images are of sexual intercourse, any type of penetration, or masturbation, or images are used for commercial purposes; Law is based on a tiered system; Consequences are diversionary; Mandated educational program for violation involving possible legal & non-legal consequences; Successful completion will expunge record.

Discussion: Ana sends Josh a topless pic via text. Josh stores the topless pic on his phone in a vault app, and does not forward the pic to anyone. Ana sends Josh a topless pic via text with the belief that it is for his eyes only. He promises to “keep it private.” Josh then forwards the pic to all his contacts.

Discussion: 3. Maddie and Matt are going out, and she sends Matt several nude pics. Matt stores them, not showing them to anyone. After a couple of weeks of having the pics, Matt asks Maddie for more. When she refuses, he tells her that if she doesn’t send him more images, he will forward her pics to “everyone in school.”

Discussion: Matt has multiple images of Maddie, a girl he had been dating. After they broke up, Matt forwarded the pics to multiple other people, including a group of girls that began harassing Maddie both in and outside of school. Much of the harassment occurred on social media, and through texting.

Discussion: Josiah and his girlfriend, Kate, have been dating for almost 8 months. Josiah turned 18 two months ago, and Kate is 16. Josiah and Kate have exchanged nude images with each other during the course of their relationship. Kate’s dad has discovered Josiah’s images on Kate’s phone, and has contacted the police.

Legal Consequences If the receiver of the images is 18 or older, and the sender is a minor, then: If nude, or semi-nude images of children are kept by the person receiving them, that person can be charged with possession of child pornography. If the receiver of the images keeps and further distributes those images, they can be charged with and convicted of “possession and distribution of child pornography”.

Legal Consequences Possession of child pornography is a “third-degree felony”; Distribution of child pornography is a “second-degree felony”. Even if the sending of the image voluntarily did so, the same charges as adults who manufacture and traffic child pornography can be applied to the receiver;

Legal Consequences In PA, those found guilty of the possession or distribution of child pornography face jail time, substantial fines, long probations, sex offender “classes”, and the label of “sex offender” for a minimum of 25 years, up to the remainder of their life.

ACT 26

Act 26 Criminalizes cyberharassment & cyberbullying; Applied when an individual repeatedly, through electronic means, makes a “seriously disparaging” statement about a child’s: Physical characteristics; Sexuality; Sexual activity; Mental or physical health or condition, or Makes a threat to do harm.

Act 26 Considered a 3rd degree misdemeanor with a diversionary purpose; Records can be expunged based upon successful completion of program; Provides assistance to schools in the clear definition of cyberharssment and ability to get law enforcement involved; Offense does not need to take place in school – violation of Act 26 can take place where the victim receives the messages.

Act 26 Can clearly be used to hold youth accountable for cyberharassment that occurs as a result of sexting; Students could be liable under both Act 198 and Act 26.

Developing Procedures

Questions for Schools In your school, what happens if you are made aware of sexting images of a student? Should you ever look through a student’s confiscated cell phone? Who does this get reported to? Should you call law enforcement? When do you call parents? How do you handle the involved students?

Questions for Schools Whatever your response, it should be led by the written word (protocol or procedures); What do your polices, procedures or guidelines say regarding sexting? Is your cell phone policy up to date, and consistently implemented? Have you consulted with your local law enforcement agency regarding sexting?

Issues to Consider Were the photos produced voluntarily, or was there enticement or duress involved? Do the photos depict only the self- producer, or were there other individuals shown in prohibited activity?

Issues to Consider How old are the individuals involved? What is your district attorney’s stance on sexting? Has the distribution of the images created bullying and harassment of involved students to occur?

Educating Staff & Students It is imperative to educate school staff and students about the realities of sexting and other digital speech issues. While they may engage in sexting and other forms of problematic digital speech, most students are unaware of legalities of that speech, and the consequences. Proactive is better than reactive.

Educate students about: Sexting: what it really is and all possible consequences; Archive sites and permanent records; Lack of control after you hit send; Lack of privacy; Threatening speech;

Educate students about: Bullying & harassment; College admissions issues & employment issues; Self-protection.

Remember: Your decisions about sexting need to be supported by the written word; There is no such thing as privacy in digital space; We as schools need to be prepared to respond to sexting and other digital speech issues, rather than reacting to them.