Sexting Teens Put Their Futures At Risk

Love may not last forever, but dirty photos sent between cell phones do.

That message is one educators are trying to get across to teens naively texting one another revealing photos that could haunt them for the rest of their lives.

Bill Alberts, from the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancies, says it’s important teens understand that online images can potentially be viewed by anyone from family and friends to college scouts and potential employers.

“You know, I'm not sure many young people understand that this is sort of a cyber-tattoo," he told CBS News. "Once you press 'send’ it is out of your hands and it can be used in ways that are a complete surprise to you."

“Sex and Tech,” a survey conducted by Albert’s group, found one in five teens and one in three young adults has sexted nude or semi-nude images. Forty-four per cent said it’s common for sexually suggestive text messages and images to be shared with people the sender never intended.

Lifelong Consequences

An 18-year-old Ohio boy is all too familiar with the “surprising” consequences Alberts talks about. The teen was convicted of distributing child pornography after he forwarded nude photos of his ex-girlfriend to everyone in his address book. He was kicked out of college and is now a registered sex offender who can’t leave the country or live with his father, who lives near a school.

"Other kids need to know that this is not something that they should be doing,” he told Nancy Grace in a radio interview. “Their life could change and it will be ruined because of it."

Girls who send provocative photos may find themselves embarrassed, teased, or bullied like Cincinnati teen Jesse Logan, who committed suicide after a racy photo she sent to her then-boyfriend was sent from phone to phone.

And in Pennsylvania, a group of girls face pornography charges after posing for revealing photos.

Statistics Show Sexting Prevalent

Teens and young adults taking part in the “Sex and Tech” survey said sexting is “fun and flirtatious.” Many said technology makes them more forward and aggressive.

The survey found:

· 22% of teen girls and 18% of boys have sent or posted nude or semi nude images of themselves

· 39% of teens have sent or posted sexually suggestive messages

· 48% of teens have received sexually suggestive messages

· 47% of teens say “pressure from guys” is the main reason girls and women send and post sexually suggestive messages and images

· 67% of teens said sending sexually suggestive content could have serious consequences, but nearly 25% said it was no big deal

· 39% of boys and 21% of girls said they’ve sent sexually suggestive messages and images to people they want to hook up with or date

· 15% of teens who sent sexually suggestive content sent it to people they only know online

· 11% of girls between the ages of 13 and 16 years have sexted

Gordon Hay is executive director and founder of Venture Academy for Troubled Teens, a residential treatment program that provides an alternative to boot camps for teens. Venture Academy has schools in Ontario and BC and serves families from through the US and Canada including those from Alberta, Newfoundland, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. For information, visit www.ventureacademy.ca.

Teen Boot Camps Soon to be Extinct

Boot camps for teens are heading towards extinction after what has been described as a treatment experiment gone wrong.

Corrections expert Dr. Edward Latessa has studied the issue extensively and says most boot camp operators have either gone out of business or modified their programs to emphasize treatment and rehabilitation.

Latessa, a juvenile justice expert at the University of Cincinnati, says boot camps fail because they focus on things like discipline, physical conditioning, and bonding with other offenders rather than on problem behaviour and attitudes that got teens in trouble in the first place.

“What are they teaching you in boot camp? Drills, ceremony, discipline, how to say yes sir, no sir. Well the problem is that’s not related to delinquent behaviour. Getting you in good shape just means you’ll be able to kick someone’s ass quicker.”

Latessa says the problem with boot camps wasn’t that they were all poorly run – because some were run well – but that they were completely ineffective at helping youth develop coping skills they could use back in the real world.

Latessa says good residential treatment programs for troubled teens focus on the behaviours and attitudes related to delinquent or problem behaviour and help youth learn and practice skills they can use with their family and peers back home. Troubled teens learn applicable life skills like how to get out of risky situations, how to stay away from negative peers, and how to be assertive with friends who may lead them astray.

“If teens practice these skills then they have the ability to deal with situations when they get into them,“ he said. “Good programs teach those things and they do it in a way that it is modeled, practiced, and reinforced.”

Future looks bright for troubled teen

Ashlan is leaving Venture Academy for troubled teens with a future that looks brighter than the bleak one she was heading towards.
Today, just a few months from graduating high school, she is a sober 17-year-old who is excited about reconnecting with her family, finishing high school, and studying nursing in Montreal.

“Before I came here I just hated myself. I was smoking pot every day, all day, fighting with my parents and doing stupid things like stealing,” Ashlan remembers. “I wanted to change but I couldn’t do it with the people I was hanging out with.”
Ashlan’s parents wanted her to change too. They sat her down, told her about Venture Academy for troubled teens, and asked if she’d like to go.

“We had our last fight and my mom gave me this opportunity to go to Venture. She gave me the choice so I said sure I’ll go.”

At first Ashlan hated her parents for suggesting she go, but as the drugs cleared her system she realized how lucky she was to have parents who cared enough to reach out for the help she so desperately needed.

“After the first month you just crazy miss them (your parents). You miss everything about them and you don’t even care about all the fights you’ve had,” she says. “Venture Academy takes you out of your environment and shows you that the ones who really care are your parents.”

Ashlan has accomplished many firsts while at Venture Academy – from zip lining for the first time to swimming in an Olympic-sized pool – however the most important first was passing math after many failed attempts.

“I took math10 three times and failed three times back home but when I took it here I got a lot of help and now I’ve finished the course and just have to take an exam,” she said. “I think Venture Academy is a really good thing.”

Cyberbullying Teens Harass the Helpless

More and more kids are being bullied in their own homes under their parent’s very noses. It’s called cyberbullying and it’s a troublesome trend involving the use of cell phones, Facebook, and other social networking sites that allow teens to connect and bully others.

Behaviour specialist Patti Reiner says conflicts that may begin with a text or facebook post are spilling over into school hallways the next day. They occur when students send cruel, vicious and sometimes threatening messages to others, circulate unflattering photos taken with a cell phone, or post photos to be rated by others. In some cases, an entire website dedicated to outing a student as gay or promiscuous is created.

“Anyone can post anything and once it’s out there, it’s there,” Reiner said. “A student may be asked to take the website down but by the time that happens, the damage is done and the site has been downloaded who knows how many times?”

Reiner says student are using MSN, Facebook and other social networking sites to say things they would never feel comfortable saying in person. Sometimes what they write is petty gossip. Other times it is hateful, degrading or even criminal.

“They will say things they would never say face to face. Then the next day they’ll meet in the hallway and fight because of what was said on MSN the night before,” Reiner said.

A poll released by the Canadian Teachers Federation recently says more than one third of Canadians know of a child who has been bullied online in the last year and one in five Canadians were aware of a teacher who was cyberbullied.

James Pengilly is a middle school counsellor who deals frequently with cyberbulling.

“It is an emerging problem that we are just going to have to learn to manage,” he said. “It isn’t something the school is actively looking for, but we will certainly deal with it if it becomes apparent to us or if bullying transfers from being on the internet to being in the school environment.”

RCMP School Liaison Officer Cheryl McKinnon says the kids who bully others online tend to be the ones whose parents aren’t around and don’t know who their child’s friends are.

“My biggest fear is that children will be bullied, not articulate it to anyone and then no one will know about it until it is too late or the child’s self esteem is so low that it is manifesting itself in drug or alcohol use,” she said.

What Can Parents Do?

Internet educators agree the key to protecting children from internet dangers including cyberbullying begins with education and open communication. It means setting boundaries, establishing rules and monitoring a child’s internet use and internet friends the same way any responsible parent would monitor their child’s offline friends and activities.

“Talk to your kids about the fact that the dangers are real and tell them exactly what could happen to them if they post too much information about themselves,” Pengilly. “Be blunt. Tell them they could be abducted or sexually assaulted.”

Educators and law enforcement agencies recommend computers be located in a common location where the screen can be easily viewed by passing parents. They urge parents to check the computer’s history to see which sites have been visited and to set rules for its use, such as no instant messaging during homework or after a set time each night.

Parents and their children should discuss what is, and is not, appropriate such as using sexually explicit, foul or hateful language when online. Flames – strongly worded and sometimes obscene messages sent to public forums and chat rooms –should be discussed and discouraged.

Additional information on internet safety, including internet pledge forms, is available at www.bewebaware.ca and www.netsmartz.org.


What to do if you’re being bullied online

Don't reply to messages from cyberbullies. Bullies feed off the misery of others and enjoy hearing they’ve gotten someone upset or worried. Resist the temptation to respond and you will deny them that pleasure.

Tell someone
Tell an adult you know and trust that you are being bullied and remember you did nothing to deserve this treatment.

Cut them off
Inform your Internet Service Provider (ISP) or cell phone/pager service provider. A list of Canadian service providers and their contact information is located in the "Related Resources" page on www.cyberbullying.ca.

Keep the evidence
Keep all posts and messages involving bullying as evidence you can present to the police, your ISP provider, and your phone company.

And finally, if you safety is in question inform your local police.

* Article provide courtesy of Venture Academy for Troubled Teens

Treating Troubled Teens: When holding back means sending your teen to residential treatment

Troubled teens unsuccessful in traditional counseling environments are finding success in long-term treatment programs that provide parents with powerful alternative to boot camps for girls and boot camps for boys.

A study conducted by the National Association of Therapeutic Schools and Programs found teens with serious emotional and behavioural issues including ADHD, depression, and oppositional defiant disorder, improved during treatment at a residential program and maintained their healthier outlook and functioning long after leaving the program.

“In our initial findings announced last year, teens with clinically impaired emotional and behavioural functioning were rated as ‘normal’ after a period of treatment at a private residential facility,” said Dr. Ellen Behrens, lead researcher at Canyon Research and Consulting.

“The analyses suggested that adolescent problems improve significantly during private residential treatment and that, with only a few exceptions, discharge functioning and in-treatment change are relatively similar, regardless of adolescent background, history, problems, and treatment factors.”

The results come as no surprise to Gordon Hay, Executive Director of Venture Academy for Troubled Teens, a residential treatment program that prides itself on offering parents an alternative to boot camps.

“This study confirms what families bringing their teens to Venture Academy know, which is that it takes a team of professionals working with youth over an extended period of time to create lasting change,” Hay says.

“Our program works because teens are provided with individualized help in professionally staffed home environments and on campus where they learn coping skills they can use in the real world.”

Venture Academy for troubled teens has schools in Ontario and BC and serves families from throughout the US and Canada including those from Alberta, Newfoundland, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. Both of the schools for troubled teens provide a tightly supervised setting where struggling teens and their families receive support from a team that includes counsellors, family therapists, psychologists, and physicians.

Defiant teen get life back on track with help from Venture Academy

Nick was a troubled teen who could justify just about anything from staying out all night to talking back to his mom. That was before a stay at Venture Academy for troubled teens, where he realized he and his mom deserved better.

“I was sneaking out and stuff and my mom would call me and tell me to come home because it’s curfew and I wouldn’t come home for a few days. I’d just text her and say I’m not coming home.”

Nick, 15, admits he spent a lot of time and energy resisting rules and boundaries he can now see were there to protect him.

“My mom’s rules are reasonable. I think I was just being unreasonable,” he said during one of his final days at the treatment program. “At the time I just wanted to hang out with my friends and wanted nothing to do with my family.”

Venture Academy helped Nick put his life back on track emotionally, physically, and academically. Highlights of his stay including cave spelunking, jamming with new friends at a local rock school, and discovering that he learns best in a one-to-one environment rather than in a large classroom setting.

“While here I found out I like learning through correspondence better than in the classroom and I think it works because I pay attention more when I’m just reading it for myself.”

Nick is no longer expected to drop out or fail high school. Instead, he plans to finish grade 12, graduate, and go on to college where he hopes to study writing.

“I’ve got my priorities straightened out and my goals. I didn’t really care too much about school before I came, but I want to finish school now and I know what I want to do when I get out of school,” he said. (Venture Academy) helped me figure that out.”
His advice to parents worried their child may resent them for sending them to Venture Academy is to do it anyway.

“That won’t happen,” he said. “I think they’ll have a stronger relationship actually. They (the teen) may be a bit angry about being sent away but you forget about that in the first week. Today I can actually have a normal conversation with my mom and we get along. That would never have happened before.”

About Venture Academy
Venture Academy for troubled teens is a residential treatment program for teens that provides an alternative to boot camp for teens. Venture Academy specializes in helping teens struggling with problems that may include drug or alcohol abuse, low self esteem, depression, ADHD, conduct disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, and/or have school issues including past suspensions, truancy, and underachieving.