The Easton Branch of AAUW (American Association of University Woman) is sponsoring a program to discuss sexting on February 28, 2017, at 10:00 AM, at the Easton Police Headquarters on Dover St. Easton Police Department’s Sergeant Eric Kellner will lead the discussion on sexting: its prevalence in our schools; its consequences for the young people who participate; and how we can approach the subject with our children. Sexting has gained a presence in every kind of school — rich and poor, urban and rural, big and small. As phones make their way into the hands of younger and younger kids, the incidents have grown more complex: Students collect their peers’ nude photos in passcode-protected Dropboxes, private Instagram accounts and apps disguised as calculators. Although many states have passed laws that draw a distinction between child pornography and sexting among underage kids,state police computer crimes units in many states get multiple calls a month from schools needing its intervention. What do you do when your 13-year-old takes photos of her body to impress a boy, and now she’s crying, stomping up the stairs, slamming her bedroom door screaming, “You don’t understand!” The kids of Generation Z have never known a world without smartphones and social media. We will examine what it means to grow up in an era where learning, flirting and hanging out all happens on screens.
Sergeant Kellner has been with the Easton Police Department since 2001 and currently supervises the Community Policing Unit. He is the team leader for the department’s SWAT Team and is a certified Maryland Policing Training Commissioner Instructor.
This program is open to the community. For more information call Patricia Crane at 410-819-3653. For information about AAUW call Janet Harford at 410-476-5961.
AAUW advances equity for all women and girls through advocacy, education, philanthropy, and research.
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