LAUSD Launches Effort to Stop Sexting

The Los Angeles Unified School District launched a campaign this week to combat the growing use of social media by students to post or send photos or videos of a sexual nature.

The “Now Matters Later” initiative teaches students about the dangers of sexting, and the possible social, disciplinary and criminal consequences.

LAUSD administrators have asked principals at about 900 elementary, middle and high schools to incorporate information from the campaign’s website, which offers a video, lesson plans, posters, bilingual tip sheets for parents and other resources.

The anti-sexting video will be shown to students in grades six through 12 to encourage healthy boundaries and highlight the risks, according to the LAUSD.

Other resources include classroom lessons that help teachers instruct students on how to say no if asked for a photo or video of a sexual nature.

“We are bringing resources not only to our students, but to our teachers, parents and administrators,” Board of Education President Steve Zimmer said. “We want to help students be responsible when they use social media. Most importantly, we want to keep our students safe.”

Deputy City Attorney Tracy Webb, who speaks about cyber safety at as many as 20 schools a month, said an educational effort is the only way to tackle the problem.

“The bottom line, I think, is there is no way we are going to arrest and prosecute ourselves out of the issue of sexting,” Webb said.

“The only way we’re going to stem the tide, get through to the kids and send the message is to partner,” the prosecutor said. “That means law enforcement partnering with nonprofits, partnering with LAUSD, partnering with anybody and everybody in the community, who can help send the message to stop the behavior, who can protect kids now, and protect kids in the future as far as their digital reputation is concerned.”

Two seniors at the Roybal Learning Complex helped illustrate the issue.

When asked about how prevalent sexting is among teens, Mileidy Maldonado said, “I believe a lot of teenagers do it, and they don’t know the consequences. They should know that it can affect them in the long run.”

Alexandra Hernandez added that the “Now Matters Later” campaign is important “because most students tend to not know better, so they tend to sext inappropriate pictures.”

“They do not know this could affect them in the future,” the teen said.

City News Service; Wikimedia Commons