Published: October 25, 2009 08:57 am      

Warn kids of dangers of suggestive texting

In the wake of Trey Franks’ suspension from West Orange-Stark athletics for the remainder of the calendar year, it’s only appropriate that students be warned about what kinds of pictures they take and send on their cell phones.

Modern technology is incredibly convenient — but as with all new developments, this particular piece of technology has its downsides, and legislators are still struggling to catch up with it. In the interim, this sort of carelessness with mobile phone cameras can lead — and has led — to serious consequences, from losing jobs and scholarships to being charged with possession of child pornography, as happened to three teenagers in Pennyslvania earlier this year.

We will leave for another day the debate over whether measures such as the latter are overreaching, but in the meantime we encourage parents to educate their children and give them firm ideas on what to expect vis-a-vis, for example, the privacy of the messages they send. A wise rule to follow, for example, would be not to send anything in a message one would not want the student population of the school to see — because one never really knows what percentage of the student population with mobile phones will see the message.

As the old song goes, teach your children well. The failure to do so could have long-lasting negative effects of several different kinds.