Bullying at Plano West (2013, high school, live)

[MckinneyOwnr]

Originally Posted by bencronin04

Sending and sharing under age pictures, whether they are of yourself or not, is illegal along with texting in driving in many areas. People still do it. If you're naive enough to think that "disabling" a feature on a phone will keep someone from doing something they want to do, you are quite wrong. Are you going to not allow them to have internet access, email, etc etc. Heck maybe we should just keep them all home.

I do not condone the actions of bullying in any shape or way and something needs to be done, but the above post is not the way to go about it. It all starts with the parents and this is where a vast majority of the blame falls.

People still do it because they are still ABLE to do it. Take away their ability, and yes, it stops.

Internet access is COMPLETELY different, as is email. Emails can be traced, rather easily I might add. So can IP addresses of anyone sending messages.

You are naive to think that parents can monitor their kids 24/7. Kids will be cruel and kids will do dumb things, whether they have good parents or not. Peer pressure and the desire to fit in trumps any parents good parenting.

[MckinneyOwnr]

Originally Posted by bencronin04

If you're naive enough to think that "disabling" a feature on a phone will keep someone from doing something they want to do, you are quite wrong.

Also, I'd love to know how someone can still text and drive when their phone is no longer able to send and receive texts, hmm? Please explain. Are they going to hack their phones and unlock them? Some kids may find a way to do that, but the vast majority will not.

[bencronin04]

Originally Posted by MckinneyOwnr

People still do it because they are still ABLE to do it. Take away their ability, and yes, it stops.

Internet access is COMPLETELY different, as is email. Emails can be traced, rather easily I might add. So can IP addresses of anyone sending messages.

You are naive to think that parents can monitor their kids 24/7. Kids will be cruel and kids will do dumb things, whether they have good parents or not. Peer pressure and the desire to fit in trumps any parents good parenting.

It's quiet easy for me to hide my steps in email....also, good luck "tracing" an email back to someone without outside expert help(which is just as available as text messaging tracking). FYI, this is my field of employment so my skill sets are a little different then your average teenage girl.

Also, you're the one that compared it to drinking. Yea not selling it to anyone under 21 has stopped all the underage drinking! lol

[MckinneyOwnr]

Originally Posted by bencronin04

It's quiet easy for me to hide my steps in email....also, good luck "tracing" an email back to someone without outside expert help(which is just as available as text messaging tracking). FYI, this is my field of employment so my skill sets are a little different then your average teenage girl.

Also, you're the one that compared it to drinking. Yea not selling it to anyone under 21 has stopped all the underage drinking! lol

I can trace an email. If I can do it, I'm sure the police are even better at it, far more than texting on a phone. They can work with the originating ISP to find out everything they need to know, and it's a lot easier than adding a phone into the mix.

Your reasoning fails on two counts. Most kids aren't "in your field of employment" and would have no clue how to hack their phone to allow access to the camera and texting functions. Therefore, they'll have no access to do those things on their phone. What do you think is going to happen, they're going to steal their parents phone so they can send sexting photos/mean texts? Yeah, right.

The second failure is not understanding the statistics of the problem. Sure, kids under 21 can and do get their hands on alcohol, either through an older sibling, stealing from parents, etc. But the vast majority of kids under 21 are not able to drink at anything close to a regular basis. Most drunk driving accidents are caused by, hey guess what? Legally aged drinkers. Limiting access to text/camera functions to kids under 18 will drastically cut down on the number of kids texting/sexting, plain and simple.

There is no need for a child to have a phone that can text and take photos. Most of us posting here actually grew up without cell phones at all, and the first ones we had (when I was in college BTW) didn't do texts or take pictures at all. Somehow, we managed to stay in contact with the people we needed to. Imagine that.

I'm still waiting to hear your explanation of how a child will be able to text/sext when that functionality has been removed from their phone.

[Johnhw2]

Bullying needs to end, life is challenging enough without people getting a self esteem or what ever they get boost by bullying someone. We need to get it out of our leaders in DC as well, they call each other names without impunity then we wonder why they cant get along. Punish those bullying repeatedly as an adult or harsh enough to serve as a greater deterrent. When a phone is used as a weapon, we need an age limit to have a phone with the capability to do this harm as well

[bencronin04]

Originally Posted by MckinneyOwnr

I'm still waiting to hear your explanation of how a child will be able to text/sext when that functionality has been removed from their phone.

I can tell that you are not going to see the other side, but for a last effort it's plain and simple. If this is implemented, the internet will have a vast number of video showing how to bypass the lock. I understand your view point, I just don't think that trying to restrict texting and cameras on cell phones is the answer to the bullying issue in the world.

[MckinneyOwnr]

Originally Posted by bencronin04

I can tell that you are not going to see the other side, but for a last effort it's plain and simple. If this is implemented, the internet will have a vast number of video showing how to bypass the lock. I understand your view point, I just don't think that trying to restrict texting and cameras on cell phones is the answer to the bullying issue in the world.

The other side? There is no rational other side. I mention limiting the phones functionality to avoid use of the camera and texting, NEITHER of which are necessary for a child to have, at all.

You then start ranting and raving about limiting access to the internet, (which we already have the option to do, because it's a GOOD idea not to let kids find certain things on there!) emails, and not letting them leave the house at all.

There is ZERO harm done by removing camera/text access to a child's phone, and having those functions controlled by their parent. If they think their child is mature enough to handle it and to have access to it, great. However, there is a LOT of harm done when children misuse that technology or make bad decisions with it. One day, my daughter will be a teenager and I'm sure there will be some boy texting her and wanting her to take naked pics of herself and send them. Maybe she'd say no, but most likely, she'd eventually give in if she wanted this boy to like her. Then this boy forwards it to all of his friends, and soon she's called a **** at school. Far better for her to just be able to say that the camera doesn't work on her phone, and that is the end of it.

There is no downside to it, and if more parents shared my view, we wouldn't have this sexting/texting/bullying problem to such a large extent.

[cy_flembeck]

Another heartwarming story of how technology (Texting, Facebook, Twitter, etc.) has taken our society down yet another notch.

Many kids today are going to grow up to become rotten adults because their lives are spent with their faces five inches from a Smartphone.

[BellaO]

I am glad the story is now gaining national recognition (came across Glenn Beck ranting about it on the radio this morning). Also heard another commentator on a different staion (national XM station) giving their opinion. I have three girls, the two eldest now in college, and we have been through some bullying of a texting nature. As a parent, I don't pretend to know what my children are doing 24/7. However, I knew alot of what was going on. As long as they lived under my roof, their laptop, facebook, cell phone and bedrooms were fair game for searches. I am a firm believer in my kids making independent and wise decisions....but they are still kids as teenagers, and they need guidance, boundaries and limits. If I lived in West Plano, you bet we would have much conversation about what is happening there. It is a tragedy and a travesty when evil is allowed to perpetuate.

Parents need to step to the plate....and parent more. I can't tell you how often a parent would tell me he didn't know what his child was into/doing. (For instance, how do you not know your kid is at an overnight coed sleepover with drugs and alcohol readily available, and how do you allow this to take place at YOUR home?) Mostly I have found this is an excuse to do nothing. Look the other way, and denial, go a long way.

[MStreetClassics]

Sounds like there has an arrest made, but the person's name wasn't released because they are a minor. Plano PD said they weren't anticipating any additional arrests at this time. Just glad they caught whoever was doing this.