New Illinois bill could add 'sexting' to sex ed classes

Lawmakers in Illinois are proposing a bill that calls for schools to add sexting to their sex education classes.

The proposal would affect students from grades 6th through 12th, reported WICS.

"I think schools make a bad decision if they don't teach social media etiquette on using their phones and social media," said parent Julia Johnson. "They need to do that. It's such a big part of the student's lives now."

Johnson said she thinks it's important that teens know the consequences of sending these kinds of messages.

"If you scare them when you talk about the dangers of sexting maybe that's enough to keep them from doing it," she added.

She said a big reason is because these kinds of images can come back to haunt you.

"What's posted online can stay there forever," said Dr. Bill Moredock, Principal of Little Flower. "That's part of the educating kids in 6th, 7th grade and high school. Once it's there, there's no erasing it."

Dr. Moredock said his school has been teaching this for years.

"It's important because social media, internet use is such a big important part of our student's lives," Dr. Moredock said.

He added that sometimes children can get pictures without even meaning to.

"Adults are getting kind of savvy about how they sometimes prey on kids in terms of setting up these what look to be child-friendly, innocuous apps," Dr. Moredock said. "But what they do, they're sly and they send in these messages that just come in out of nowhere."

These concerns are a big reason parents also need to take precautions at home.

"Definitely monitor them," Johnson said. "I had all the passwords, I check things every night."

According to a study in the American Medical Association, 15 percent of teenagers said they've sent a sexual text, with nearly 30 percent saying they've received one.