At sixteen I did not lack the maturity to fully understand the ramifications of forwarding such content. I also know of at least 100 other people who, at under sixteen, also had the same maturity. I had a cell phone at 14 and I used it for..... texting my friends. And calling my parents if I needed to be picked up after school. I do remember a nude picture getting sent around during freshman year and although it was not sent to me, I was shown it through someone else.
Plenty of people
over sixteen don't have the maturity to do lots of things. Businesses are corrupted, adults bully each other just like kids do -- and some people think kids learn bullying behaviour from adults! :roll:
You know what else is a venue for gossip, rumours and bullying? Schools, friends, cliques, groups, churches, youth groups, businesses, organisations, clubs.
Just
existing pretty much means that you are involved in multiple venues for gossip, rumours, and bullying
Copy machines? Posters flying around school? Slipping them under doors, in lockers?
That's exactly true. So parents should talk to their kids about respect for other people -- online and otherwise. However, that doesn't undermine the fact that cell phones and the internet are just
tools. Of course, you can hurt a person with an axe, or you can use that axe to cut down a tree for firewood. Taking away cell phones from people under 16 is a gross concept -- like, "well, you could cause trouble with this, so I'm not gonna even give you a chance to use it responsibly". But there is often not a legitimate reason to doubt a person's ability to properly use a tool (ageism is NOT a legitimate reason). You can teach a kid how to use an axe, help them learn how to work it and help them understand that the tool can be used for bad as well as good. You watch them for a while as they get acquainted with the tool, and then you let them know that if they need help they can always go to you for that -- or even just a question. :roll:
Bah, schools that ban cell phones really grind my gears. I always had a cell phone in high school and I didn't use it in class (for the most part), but I did always keep it on vibrate. Cell phones are a really important tool, my parents were able to inform me when family emergencies happened, update me on the status of my ill grandfather, let me know if I had something that needed to be done, etc. Texts can be read and responded to in class, calls should be taken outside and then quietly back into class when you are done. Q: Why don't teachers respect that the people they are teaching having lives too?
I went back and forth from a college to a high school environment and was thoroughly disgusted with the way that I was treated in the high school environment as opposed to the college one. And funny enough -- my age (15-16) didn't change as I went back and forth between the two .... only the level of respect I was treated with