Mixed Messages

There's a sexting "scandal" in a local school that is getting a lot of media play. This is no doubt a serious issue and one that we should address with our students, but I also think there is a bit of puritanical reaction to anything related to sex and teenagers. I think it's also often a hypocritical one.

When I go to that story on the Denver Post's site, it of course generates some ads on the page that change each time. Interestingly, however, the ads often have quite a few things in common. For example, here are two screenshots from two separate visits to that page.

Notice anything? Even ignoring the prominent Marijuana ads (Marijuana and the Broncos seem to be the primary revenue generators for the Post), every time I visit the page I get several prominent pictures of scantily clad women. 

Thankfully, it does seem that law enforcement is proceeding carefully and is only planning on charging any students who perhaps coerced or bullied other students into sexting (as opposed to making any student who participated register as a sex offender, which the law does allow). But I certainly think we need to be careful of saying things like,

we've got a lot of work to do to get them to the moral and ethic level we think they should have

If the flagship newspaper of our state is willing to put those types of ads on their site, then I think it's pretty hard to go after the "moral and ethic level" of our students. It's not just the Post, of course, take a look at the ads during the Broncos' game today (or your favorite NFL team). Or some of the shots of the cheerleaders that the networks like to include. Not to mention the new Hooters restaurant that opened nearby.

I'm certainly not defending sexting, but I think we need to acknowledge that teenagers are reacting to the culture we've created and promoted. At best we're sending mixed messages, so why are we surprised when our students respond to them in kind?

Which Campaign is More Effective?

Both LG and MTV have current campaigns centered around CyberSafety/Bullying/Sexting/Ethics. Alec Couros tweeted about the LG Give It A Ponder Campaign which stars James Lipton from Inside the Actors Studio fame. Here’s one of the videos:



I like the spots, but tweeted back that I wondered if this campaign would be effective with the target audience – presumably pre-teens, teenagers and young adults. Did I like them because I know who James Lipton is and can appreciate the context?

Then a day or two later I came across MTV’s A Thin Line campaign. These videos are very, very different than the LG ones. I’m sharing one below, but fair warning that some folks might find these offensive and, if you plan on showing these in your school, you might want to clear it with whomever you typically clear controversial things with. Now, I think this is appropriate at least for high school students (otherwise I wouldn’t share it on this blog), but others might disagree.



My first thought was that the MTV videos would be much more effective at stimulating a class discussion, and also grab the target audience’s attention even if seen “in the wild.” But then I wondered if any public service campaign on this topic (or any topic, for that matter) can really make a difference. I certainly think that most high school students, if you sat down and talked to them about these issues, could tell you the perils of sexting or cyberbullying, yet obviously some of them are engaging in these activities anyway. If that’s the case, then can/will a PSA convince them otherwise?

What are your thoughts? Would you use these in a high school classroom? Do you think these videos can be effective – either on their own, or paired with classroom discussion? And, no matter your opinion on those questions, are you addressing this topic in some way in your school?