Course lets genie out of the bottle

SEXT education!

For those of you who may have missed it, I’m talking about the latest so-called online educational tool being recommended for classroom use — a program that advises students how to “safely” sext (send sexually explicit images of themselves) on their mobile phones.

The problem with that advice is that no sexting is safe and once those images are out there, it’s too late. There is no calling them back. The damage is done. Anyway, the program is titled The Art of Safe Sexting, a contradictory title, given that you would hardly call young girls taking their clothes off and sending sexually explicit images of themselves to anyone on their mobile phones as being either “artistic” or “safe”.

The program is designed to be taught to girls from years 7-10.

According to program author and Fitzroy High School teacher Briony O’Keefe, some students will always engage in sexting, so education needs to be of a “harm minimising” approach.

In other words, we have hoist the white flag, given up and so instead let’s tell them they can still do it but in a “safer way”. What rubbish! The online video teaches “sexting done right” and then discusses options, including students should only do it when sober and not share other peoples’ images or videos without permission.

Now, I don’t know about you, but the thought of any 12 to 16year-old, drunk, drugged up or sober, sending sexually explicit images of herself to anyone sends a shudder down my spine.

And it begs the question, what the hell are our kids being taught in school?

The video also gives advice about being aware of the risks, consent, avoiding being pressured and talking to authorities about unwanted sexts. Fair enough! But then, “If you still wanna send a pic, try to crop out anything that makes it obvious it’s you, so leave out your face, your favourite necklace and tattoos so, if you need to, you can later deny that image is you”, the video says.

OK, so once you send the image of yourself you can then lie about it? Nice! Ms O’Keefe said sexting was “a way of life” and simply telling students not to do it did not work.

What I want to know is, since when did schoolgirls sending sexually explicit images of themselves on their phones become “a way of life”.

How about telling them the images can be traced back to their phone and there is no guarantee they will stay with the person intended.

Fact is relationships break down, people move on and sometimes ex-partners, with an axe to grind, may pass them on and identify you in the process, irrespective of your desire for anonymity.

Of course there are laws against doing this, but once the images are sent on, there is not a single thing you can do about it.

And let’s not forget the latest crime statistics in Geelong, which show the rise in sexting and illegal distribution of images online could be behind local sex offences soaring to a 10-year high.

So instead of saying sexting is “a way of life”, how about educating young women to the many dangers associated with it? Why not tell them that the best way to avoid highly sensitive images being distributed on the net is to not to send them in the first place?

But please don’t fill their heads with garbage and the completely false notion that by cropping their pictures it will keep them safe. It won’t! While Victoria’s Education Minister James Merlino described the sexting tips as inappropriate, former Victoria Police cybercrime investigator Susan McLean confirmed what most of us already know: “There is no safe way to send a naked image”.

Teaching is a highly responsible job and the teachers I know are all pretty responsible people, decent human beings who want only the best for the children in their care.

And I am not saying the teacher who designed this program did not have the best intentions at heart.

But wouldn’t it be far better to teach our girls a sense of selfworth and that sexting is not an art, nor is it safe and no amount of head cropping will ensure their images and identity will not be passed on?

As for The Art of Safe Sexting, this is one program which, if not already, should be headed straight for the bin.

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