Sexting Scandal Turns Positive As Necessary Dialogue Happens All Over Smithtown
Earlier this week Kings Park was home to a media circus as the news story broke that almost two dozen students were suspended for receiving a video of a very young teenage girl having sex with a young boy. Another teenage boy filmed said incident. Those three are allegedly from the neighboring Smithtown district. Their Superintendent, Dr James Grossane held a special Board of Education meeting Tuesday night to discuss what many are calling a scandal. He is working closely with Suffolk County Police and Superintendent Timothy Eagan of the Kings Park School district because said video was forwarded to almost two dozen Kings Park students. However, many parents are doubtful that only approximately twenty students received said video.
The explicit photographing of teens and passage to others via any type of digital device is referred to as SEXTING. Older people do it but it’s legal. However, it is illegal for anyone under 18 to: photograph, possess or share inappropriate photos of minors in a state of undress. Sexting is not a Long Island problem but a national problem and it isn’t new – it’s been going on for several years. One Kings Park mother who did not want to be named shared her story. “A few years back when my son was in the eighth grade, his then girlfriend sent him a photo of her with just her bra on and said if you get your grades up their will be more,” she shared. The young girl was from a very strict family and a straight “A” student.
Two years back Kings Park in the kNOw, a non-profit designed to educate parents and children about destructive decisions held their annual fall seminar but instead of discussing drugs and and prevention, the topic was Sexting. Detective Jeff Mackston with Nassau County’s Forensics Computer Crimes Unit was the keynote speaker. Unfortunately, less than fifty people were in attendance at the Kings Park High School audience. “This is not just a bad thing, this is an illegal act, a felony that can have lifelong ramifications for your child, they can be put on a Sex Offender list for life” said Mackston. He shared a great deal of critical information that night, much of it shocking to the few teens and the parents in the audience and even the Kings Park in the kNOw team.
Technology Crime Unit
The mother ship on Long Island for computer crimes is undoubtedly The Technology Crime Unit of Acting District Attorney Madeline Singas (TCU). It combines every component of the Investigative Division of the Nassau County DA’s Office – prosecutors, undercover investigators, computer forensic examiners, accountants, IT personnel, paralegals and other support staff – to investigate and prosecute computer and online crimes.
Created in 1997, the TCU is one of the first of its kind in the country and one of the most experienced, and works closely with the Computer Crime Units of both the Nassau County Police Department and the New York State Police in assisting them with their investigations and arrests.
In New York State
In those two years since Mackston gave that important seminar have the laws in New York State changed because of Sexting? Yes they have, they actually began to change in 2012 prior to the Kings Park in the kNOw Sexting seminar. According to a Criminal Defense Attorney in New York who represents sexting cases: “Child pornography laws were enacted to protect kids from sexual predators, not other kids. Some states, like New York, have diversion programs that allow teenagers who are involved in sexting to attend educational programs instead of facing tough criminal penalties. Diversion programs like the one in New York give kids a break. For example, before New York’s diversion law was enacted in 2012, a 16-year-old boy in Webster, New York, requested that a 15-year-old girl send him a nude photo. After she did, he forwarded the photo to his friends. The boy was charged with distributing and possessing child pornography, both felonies that can result in a prison sentence and sex offender registration. Although he ultimately pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor and his record will be expunged, he did spend time in jail”.
SOME STATES FELONY LAWS APPLY TO YOUTH
In an Op-Ed by Jacob Sullun this week, he calls for the laws to be altered for minors with regard to Sexting. He calls for prosecutorial forbearing as some offenders are quite young, like fourteen and he says they should not have to spend jail time or their lives listed as sex offenders. He also spoke of two very recent cases one in Canon City Colorado where one-hundred students were arrested for swapping nude photos of themselves and their peers in their high school. In Colorado this is a Class 3 felony which calls for 4-12 years in prison and a lifetime with a record and one’s name on a Sex Offender list. Is this too harsh? Many think so and laws are beginning to be amended all over the country because of Sexting.
Two letters went out to the computer from Dr. Timothy Eagan, the Superintendent for the Kings Park Central School District regarding the Sexting incident. One was dated November 7th and one was dated the 9th, we have provided the letter from the 9th below. Both are listed on the website. No mention of the Sexting matter could be found on Smithtown’s website.
At the end of the day, what was called a Scandal is creating so many critical dialogues. It’s unfortunate for young people involved but positive conversations are and will continue to rise up from this.
Statement by Suffolk County Police Department:
An encounter that occurred off school grounds between a male and female, who were known to one another, was recorded using a cell phone by male acquaintance in late October and later distributed electronically. The two males involved in this incident, who are both 14 years old, were arrested and charged with Disseminating Indecent Material to Minors, a Class D Felony, Promoting a Sexual Performance by a Child, a Class D Felony, and Sexual Abuse 3rd Degree, a misdemeanor. They are scheduled to appear in Family Court on a later date. Further dissemination of this video may result in criminal charges. The investigation is continuing.”
Dear Parents and Guardians:
I recently had a parent come to see me about what he described as “a serious problem.” By the end of the conversation I came to understand that from this parent’s perspective, my “serious problem” was that if I did not overturn a student suspension that he was “going to News 12.” Yes, WE do have a serious problem. However, from my perspective it is that our young people are carrying mini computers in their back pockets that are both unfiltered and largely unsupervised. This is a shared problem, and more than just an issue of one student, one decision, or one suspension.
Just last week, two stories surfaced – one in Texas and the other in Colorado. Both stories are heartbreaking and involve young people and problematic use of mobile devices. This is not simply a Kings Park issue, but rather a more global issue. The good news is that this is an issue that we can address together as a community.
The administration has fielded several inquiries this week regarding various social media posts, images, and student suspensions. Due to confidentiality reasons, I will not be providing any additional information regarding these events. However, the purpose of this letter is to continue a very different conversation both at home and at school so that we may work together to ensure that these are the last events of this type in Kings Park.
I call the generation of young people in our schools today the “iGeneration.” They have grown up in a world of iPhones, mobile devices, and apps like Facebook, Instagram, and Snap Chat. While this is a world that they are very familiar with, this is a foreign world for many adults. Many of our children are using mobile devices and social media in perfectly safe, normal, and educational ways. However, some of our children are engaging in problematic behavior. For example, did you know that there are more than seven (7) different apps that can be downloaded for the purpose of concealing pictures and video on a mobile device? Some of these apps even allow for password protection. One has an icon that makes it appear as a calculator. All of these apps are designed to conceal images from adults.
Recent research reports indicate that teens spend more than seven hours per day consuming electronic media. The Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world. They conduct public opinion polling, demographic research, content analysis and other data-driven social science research. They are one of the leading research groups in the area of teen technology use. Under the heading of “Reading, Learning, and Growing
Pupil Personnel Services
Together,” please consider reading the following PEW article, and consider having a conversation with your child about their social media and technology use. http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/04/09/teens-social-media-technology-2015/
As we investigate incidents in our schools, by far the number one place where young people tell us that they charge and store their electronic devices is in their bedroom. Some students have shared with us that they sleep with their phone under their pillow. This is dangerous and very problematic. The best advice that I was given a few years ago was to create a family electronic device charging station. At night before bed, all devices go to the family charging station. Something to consider…
The thing that deeply upsets me is that very few, if any, of our students district-wide reported any recent problematic behaviors to an adult. This I find troubling. There is a law on the books called the 911 Good Samaritan Law, where a person cannot be arrested for calling 911 if they are with someone in immediate need of attention. My goal over the next few months is to work with our principals and parents to get the word out that we need our young people to be good citizens and report problematic behavior to an adult. In most cases, no school discipline would result for the reporter/upstander. On the contrary, the young person would certainly be rewarded for helping to make Kings Park a safer place to live and go to school.
The district is committed to continuing to educate students in school about the potential consequences for problematic online behavior. As I indicated in my previous letter, our focus this year has been on the acronym THINK. I am sharing this with you again so that you can reinforce this message at home.