Nearly 500 New York City schools suspended students for sexting last year, but one Brooklyn school took a particularly hard line with young teens sending sexually suggestive messages or photos.
The Edward B. Shallow Junior High School in Bensonhurst suspended 32 students for sexting in 2010, more than any other city school last year, the New York Post reports. There were only 12 other schools that had 10 or more such suspensions.
The principal of Shallow Junior High, Brenda Champion, told the Post in an email she was proud of her school's crackdown and that the stats show the school takes mischief "very seriously and addresses any infractions."
The sexting ban, which applies to students' after school hours, was added to the DOE discipline code in June 2010, and remains controversial: Legal experts say the city cannot regulate sexual behavior on a student's own time unless they find nude photos of children under 18 (which is criminal even when consensual).
The only exception, lawyer and child advocate Parry Aftab tells the Post, is if such behavior has a "direct and serious impact on the school environment," or violates a student's civil rights.
The U.S. Supreme Court will have to decide the extent of schools' jurisdiction, Aftab told the Post.
