There have been at least 10 sexting cases in the Forsyth County school system over the past four years. This is what drives sheriff’s investigator Jeff Roe in his campaign against sexting and Internet based sex crime among teens, according to the AJC.
He visits schools with a blunt message: kids have committed suicide after being exposed on the Internet and in picture text messages. He urges students to take the problem seriously by not participating in any form of sexting, explicit text messaging or sharing of lewd images online.
Is the reach out to the community working? It’s hard to tell. Prosecutors have been reluctant to go after teens involved in sexting because the punishment is so severe: felony child pornography charges could result in 20 years in prison.
Other metro Atlanta school systems are offering Internet sex crime seminars, but Forsyth is the most aggressive. Fulton County schools only offer occasional “Lunch and Learn” sessions for parents and Cobb’s Prevention and Intervention Department provides Internet safety tips on the county website. Gwinnett County is just getting started by offering information at PTA meetings, on the system’s website and in the student handbook.
For the AJC’s full story, click here.