Here are some interesting articles we received and discovered this past week…
ENJOY!
SEXTING: What K-12 Schools Should Know
Quote from Article:
Sexting among today’s youth is a problem that is becoming increasingly prevalent, and that many schools and parents are being forced to confront and manage. Sexting is when minors take nude or partially-nude pictures or video images of themselves or others, with cell phones or webcams, and share them through text message, email, social media post, or similar method of internet distribution. Unfortunately, the media continues to explode with news reports of adolescents engaged in sexting scandals, and the legal issues that arise from those incidents are often serious and far reaching.
Criminal prosecution of youths sending sexts, lawsuits instituted against schools and school officials due to their response to sexting, and even reports of children committing suicide after alleged sexting incidents spiraled out of control routinely generate nationwide media coverage. A study conducted by The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy suggests that 20 percent of teens have posted or shared nude or semi-nude photos of themselves via text message or online. A slightly higher number of teens, 22 percent, admit to having received a nude or semi-nude photo from someone else. The prevalence of sexting has made it an issue which can no longer be avoided by schools, parents, lawmakers or law enforcement.
District Deeds Synopsis:
The information in this article is eye-opening, enlightening and horrifying.
“20 percent of teens have posted or shared nude or semi-nude photos of themselves via text message or online.”
Another article from the Telegraph titled Children ignore age limits by opening social media accounts” mentions:
“Three quarters of 10 to 12-year-olds use social media despite the age limit of 13. 49 per cent use Facebook and 41 per cent use Instagram”
and
“Social media services like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and Snapchat require account holders to be at least 13 years-old.”
The article also provides an event titled “Safer Internet Day”
Inspired by all this information we decided to research the San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) website to see what internet safety guidance is provided to Principals, Teachers, Parents and Students.
First, “Safer Internet Day”
No results…
So then we decided to search for the term “sexting”. Here is what we got:
Again, no results
Not willing to give up, we finally found that the SDUSD actually has a quiz apparently for Students called “Media Smarts 101” with the question:
Unfortunately for Parents and Students, the results of this survey HAS NOT been posted on any SDUSD Press Release or released in any Board of Education meeting.
We know firsthand that many SDUSD Principals and site staff are on the lookout for sexting and other improper social media activities between Students.
The questions is:
What is the Supt. Marten Administration doing to educate Parents and Students of the illegality of sexting and under age access to social media?
As proven by our search…
ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!
As usual…just as we have come to expect from the incompetent Supt. Cindy Marten, her senior staff, and Board of Education.
If You Only Care about “Segregation” in Charter Schools and Not Neighborhood Schools, Please Shut Up
Quote from Article:
As a Black man, who works hard to support Black children and families, there are a lot of choke on your own vomit moments watching the public school wars. Neither public school sector serves Black kids well consistently, not the districts and not charters. We need to acknowledge that and own that truth.
But there tends to be this group of people who show up at public forums, you know them. Lots of time and big words, philanthrocapitalism, privatizationalizers, neo-liberalbillionairization, etc. and sometimes they get on a high horse about “segregation” or the plight of Black children.
But only when it comes to charter schools.
Meanwhile, the most segregated schools and programs in almost every district is a district school or program—check the top tracks at Tech, or climb up the Hills to Hillcrest. Charter schools have lotteries, some give neighborhood preferences—all that do are in the Flatlands—you go North and the average house is over $1.5 million and only those neighborhood kids get into the schools, the neighborhood preference excludes low income, Black and Brown folks.
Those are the district’s rules—and none of these folks are complaining.
I shouldn’t have to school these people on segregated housing and its ties to neighborhood catchment areas. They got the big words, and have studied and will tell you how deeply they care about “equity” and the segregated charters and how Black children are underserved there.
Not a word about the district, where the majority of kids go. Not a word about neighborhood attendance zones that are specters of redlining maps, with opportunity still apportioned by zip code, race and wealth. Not a word about the top tracks at Tech where you struggle to put two Black kids together, and not a word about the White Flight from the public schools at middle and high schools in the Hills.
District Deeds Synopsis:
By simply changing the names of the Oakland schools to SDUSD schools, this article would be 100% describing what has been going on in our District by many so-called public school “advocates” crying about losing money to Charters.
What they seem to forget is that Charter Students ARE San Diego Unified Students.
Meanwhile the SDUSD senior leadership promotes segregation by reducing routes and continuing to cut busing and the busing budget.
We heartily recommend this article for those readers who are sick of the incompetent SDUSD Superintendentn and Trustees whining about no money while looking for candidates like Charter Schools to blame.
The District Deeds suggestion to Marten and her Trustee cronies Barrera, Beiser, Evans Payne and McQuary:
Don’t look for Charter Schools to blame for SDUSD financial mismanagement disasters…look in the mirror.
What It’s Like To Be A School Therapist
Quote from Article:
Public schools across the United States are scrambling to manage students’ mental health ― and the problem is only getting worse.
One in five kids between ages 3 and 17 shows signs of a mental health disorder, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The nonprofit Mental Health America has noted a 3 percent increase in cases of children with severe depression over the past five years. And the number of kids hospitalized for thoughts of suicide or attempted suicide has been rising for the last decade, according to a new study.
Early identification and care are critical, and some schools have dedicated mental health professionals available for students ― but these workers are overstretched and budgets are tight, especially in rural areas, meaning many kids go overlooked. And families don’t always have adequate insurance coverage for treatment. Meanwhile, a staggering 63 percent of children with major depression reported that they did not receive care, according to Mental Health America, putting them at risk of lifelong learning issues and social problems.
Samantha Boatwright, a licensed clinical social worker who works with public school kids, knows these challenges firsthand. She offers counseling to students in Georgia ― ranked one of the worst states for mental health care access ― through the state-funded Georgia Apex Program (GAP). Launched in 2015, the program has partnered with local mental health organizations to bring services like Boatwright’s to more than 300 schools across the state. It has reached thousands of kids who said they’d never received mental health services before.
District Deeds Synopsis:
An extremely interesting interview with insights we haven’t heard before. The clinical social workers gives some great advice to Parents who feel their child need more and better mental health supports.
An honest article with honest questions and answers. Well worth reading!
Now for our Quote of the Week:
Around a third of parents still worry that they will look like a bad mother or father if their child has a mental health problem. Parenting is hard enough without letting prejudices stop us from asking for the help we need for ourselves and our children. – Kate Middleton
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IF
- Your family has been injured by the San Diego Unified School District, go to the District Deeds Complaint Forms page to find instructions to fight for your Civil Rights!
- YOU ARE TIRED OF THE COVER UPS AND LIES BY SUPT. CINDY MARTEN…
Please Click the Link Below and sign the Petition Today and READ the COMMENTS to Support the REMOVAL of Marten by SDUSD Stakeholders!
District Deeds 