The amnesty period is over, and now criminal charges are possible for Bridgewater-Raritan Regional School District students who failed to delete nude photos of classmates from their phones and social media pages.

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In a letter from the superintendent earlier this week, students were given a Thursday deadline to get rid of any explicit shots, which could be considered child pornography. The letter indicated that "some of the students" knowingly possessed and displayed such images.

The district was the second in Somerset County to deal with nude "selfies" this month. One student at William Annin Middle School in Basking Ridge forwarded nude photos to two others in exchange for cash, police said.

Technology has created a completely new area of focus for school staff, according to Dr. Richard Bozza, executive director of the New Jersey Association of School Administrators.

"This is another one of those examples where a lot of what's happening around the clock falls into the school doorway," he said. "It's no longer just what happens between 9:00 and 3:00 within the school walls."

While there is no set rule on how schools and districts should respond in such situations, Dr. Bozza expressed support for the "amnesty period" approach.

"The idea is to solve the problem as quickly as possible," he said.

The superintendent's letter, published in full by The Alternative Press, urged parents to do what they can in order to prevent their children from sharing inappropriate content with one another.

"Reinforce with your child that once they distribute digital content and it gets to the World Wide Web, it is impossible to eradicate," the letter stated. "Finally, please review with your child all of the digital photos they may have posted or saved on their cellphone, their social media accounts or on other electronic hardware or software."

 

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