WYOMING, Mich.– Be careful what you put out there on social media, because it could come back to haunt you. That’s the warning Wyoming police officers have for students. This, after a sexually explicit picture involving teens from Grandville went viral.
“Once it’s there, it’s there forever and you’re never going to get rid of it,” explained Chris DeBoer, school liaison officer with Godfrey Lee Public Schools.
Videos, pictures, even texts; they may be gone, but not for good.
“[Teens] believe once you delete it from your phone, its gone forever. Unfortunately, it’s not the case and we are starting to see that,” said Officer De Boer.
One of the biggest issues liaison officers are trying to get across to students, especially with Homecoming season upon us, is the serious consequence of sexting, which is a sexually explicit message sent by text messaging.
This comes just days after a picture showing a Grandville High School student in sexually explicit positions went viral on social media.
Now, police are considering child pornography charges for those who had the image on their phones and shared it.
“Even if it’s of themselves, it can be an illegal act,” added Rory Allen, school resource officer with Wyoming Public Schools.
“Whether it’s a tweet, Facebook status, video, that stuffs out there and it’s not going away. It could come back and get you 20 years from now.”
Aside from the criminal consequences is the issue of privacy, with our phones acting as GPS tracking devices, letting people know where we are once we post that picture or status.
So as police try to keep up with ever-changing technology, they need parents to do their part too.
“You have the right to look through their cell phones,” said Officer DeBoer. “I’m assuming you buy it for then, you have that right to go through it. It’s not being an overbearing parent, its being a concerned parent. “
