"sexting is the new first base"

Did you catch the Boston Globe Magazine article on Sunday?

"In the affluent seaside town of Duxbury, Massachusetts (nicknamed “Deluxeberry,” for its oceanfront homes), rumors of the not-so-secret Dropbox account had been circulating all year. On it were said to be folders named after some 50 Duxbury High School girls, each containing revealing or even nude photos. 

How had those photos, known as “noods” in Internet slang, come to exist? Some girls had sent their photos to boyfriends, trusting that they would keep them private; others to boys they were crushing on, hoping to impress or land a potential hookup. Some had refused requests for pictures, but out of frustration or vindictiveness, someone doctored up nude photos with their name or face and posted it anyway."

https://www.bostonglobe.com/magazine/2017/10/06/cautionary-tale-about-high-school-sexting-from-duxbury/V1LmUr8qZeYIsULcdXAvyO/story.html

This is timely as there is a forum on Monday, Oct 16 at Franklin High School to discuss this very issue.
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2017/10/sext-ed-forum-on-teen-sexting-and.html

SEXT ED: A forum on teen sexting and changing the law - Oct 16

In the News: sexting bill introduced; cleanups scheduled for Saturday

From the Milford Daily News, articles of interest for Franklin:

"A local lawmaker has spoken out in favor of a new effort to address the issue of “sexting” - sending sexually explicit photos - among teens. 

State Rep. Jeffrey Roy, D-Franklin, and Franklin Police Sgt. Jason Reilly were part of a ceremony in Tuesday in which Gov. Charlie Baker introduced a bill - An Act Relative to the Harmful Distribution of Sexually Explicit Visual Material - meant to give law enforcement more options to deal with sexting. 

Roy had filed a bill on the issue in 2015 - and put forth another in January of this year - noting that, under the state’s current laws, teens who engage in sexting could be brought up on child pornography charges. 

“When lawmakers wrote the (child pornography) law 20 years ago, they weren’t thinking of teenagers engaging in this behavior,” he said. “Law enforcement officers were put in the terrible position of either charging a kid with a felony or doing nothing.”

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20170425/franklin-officials-back-new-sexting-bill

"The town will host two cleanups Saturday in an effort to remove litter from from local parks, playgrounds, ball fields and roadsides. 

One cleanup, sponsored by the town’s Conservation Commission, will focus on the DelCarte Conservation Property, while the other, sponsored in part by the Recreation Department and kicking off from Beaver Pond, will send volunteers to various sites around town. Both are scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. 

Recreation Department Director Ryan Jette said his department’s annual Earth Day cleanup starts from the Beaver Pond parking lot, where volunteers are given trash bags and gloves. 

“We have 26 areas around town that need to be cleaned up,” he said.

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20170425/cleanups-slated-for-saturday-in-franklin

the large pond at DelCarte

In the News: sexting law, veterans unemployment, PMC water stop

In the years since, the number of adolescents who say they have sent a naked or sexually provocative picture has only increased. Indeed, about 20 to 30 percent of teens have sexted, according to the Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Center at Bridgewater State University. 

A definitive answer may be coming now that the state Legislature has taken up the debate. State Rep. Jeffrey Roy, D-Franklin, recently filed a bill that would amend the state’s child pornography laws to make sexting between minors a noncriminal offense or misdemeanor. 

Currently, teenagers in Massachusetts arrested for sexting can be charged with a felony for child pornography. And if convicted, they would be required to register as a sex offender.

Continue reading the article
http://www.milforddailynews.com/article/20150801/NEWS/150809584/1994/NEWS

Alhough declining, the veteran unemployment rate is still higher than local veterans agents would like it to be due to a handful of factors. 

Dale Kurtz, Franklin's veterans agent, said many employers look down on physical or emotional issues veterans brought back from the battlefields.“A lot of companies try to (look past those issues) but don’t,” said Kurtz. 

Something as simple as reliable transportation can be a challenge to getting veterans back to work.

Continue reading the article
http://www.milforddailynews.com/article/20150801/NEWS/150809583/1994/NEWS

As it has for many years before, Franklin served as a way station for Saturday's Pan-Mass Challenge, the cross-state bike ride to raise funds to fight cancer. 

Throngs of riders stopped at the Remington Middle School to rest, hydrate and prepare for the remainder of the ride to Provincetown. All were raising money for research and treatment at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. 

Franklin resident Jim McCusker, one of the volunteer organizers at the site, was in the midst of things, using his cowbell to direct riders to the appropriate location.

Continue reading the article
http://www.milforddailynews.com/article/20150801/NEWS/150809582/1994/NEWS

"how to handle a growing number of “sexting” cases"

At the State House Tuesday, Roy and Reilly, joined by a Bridgewater State University psychology professor, testified before the Judiciary Committee in favor of the bill. According to Roy, the legislation would not hinder legitimate child pornography investigations, but rather establish an important, potentially life-altering distinction between child porn and sexting among teens. 

“This bill would set up a new section of the statute to give police officers and prosecutors more tools to curb this behavior,” Roy said. 

Filed earlier this year, H.1567, An Act Relative to Transmitting Indecent Visual Depictions by Teens, has found supporters beyond the Legislature, including in law enforcement and academics. One letter of support came all the way from a professor at the University of Colorado. 

The bill, Roy said, protects minors who participate in sexting as long as they do so consensually. Instead of a felony, 15- to 19-year-olds convicted of sexting would have to enter a mandatory diversion program; other penalties range from a civil fine to community service.

Read the full article here
http://www.milforddailynews.com/article/20150714/NEWS/150718263/1994/NEWS

In the News - teen sex, Town Council meeting

Coordinated by the Franklin Community Health Council, the first of a series of workshops to help parents talk with their teenagers about sex will be held tonight at Mercer Auditorium at the Horace Mann Middle School on Oak St.

Tonight will be the first of five free workshops Craver will lead throughout the school year. Parents are invited to the school's auditorium from 7 to 8:30 p.m. to ask questions and participate in a detailed discussion.

For additional information on the series read:

Workshop to help Franklin parents talk to kids about sex

from The Milford Daily News News RSS by Ashley Studley/Daily News staff

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The actions from the Town Council meeting were reported here

Franklin OKs $1M bond for high school renovation study

from The Milford Daily News News RSS by Ashley Studley/Daily News staff

The drinking problem amongst our youth

Michael Morton writes on the report presented at the School Committee meeting this week that

Nearly half of town high school students participating in a health survey said they had drank alcohol recently, according to results released this week, with the rate exceeding the average regional consumption.

The survey, funded by the MetroWest Community Health Care Foundation and conducted last spring by the nonprofit Education Development Center, found that 48 percent of the 1,350 Franklin high school students who took part in the survey said they drank within the last month. That figure was higher than the 42 percent average for the 18 MetroWest and Milford area communities that participated, but the same as the statewide rate.

"Every community is surprised it's that high," said Michele Kingsland-Smith, Franklin's director of instructional services. "If it were 35 (percent), it'd still be too high."

The survey's topics included alcohol, drug and tobacco use; violent behavior; suicide; and sexual behavior among middle school and high school students. While regional averages were released last month, Franklin unveiled its results during a School Committee meeting Tuesday, with a number of categories showing a continued downward trend.

This is an issue where Franklin can take control of it and put their own resources to use to make some real substantial progress. This is not just a school issue, this is a community issue.

Read the full article here.

Note: I do have the recorded presentation from the School Committee meeting in queue to post. You will be able to hear that important information for yourself.