Diocese of Rockville Centre warns parents of dangerous website

Students using it to trade naked pictures ‘like baseball cards’

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Catholic high school principals have been warned about a new website where students are sharing naked pictures of female students “like baseball cards.”

Mary McMahon, director of the diocese’s Office for Protection of Children/Young People, sent a letter to the principals of all the Catholic high schools on Long Island. It instructed the principals to make guidance counselors and principals aware of the site and the dangers to both male and female students in the schools.

“It’s an ongoing effort by the diocese to step up effort to make parents aware of these situations that could potentially cause harm to their children,” said Sean Dolan, head of communications for the diocese.

Dolan said that the diocese was notified of the website by an anonymous letter from a parent of a female student. “Normally anonymous letters aren’t responded to,” he said. “But the threat was deemed necessary enough to make principals aware of.”

On the site, boys are creating topics asking for naked pictures of girls from specific schools. Some are also asking for pictures of specific girls, offering to trade other pictures for them.

“Unfortunately, teens do not realize the dangers of the Internet,” the letter from McMahon reads. “The lure of popularity and peer approval outweighs the inherent dangers of sites such as the one above. Young girls are cooperating with the request to submit pictures and are, unknowingly, participating in their own victimization.”

Though everyone has access to the website, Rockville Centre has not been affected yet. The website does not list South Side High School as one of the places people are seeking pictures from. And Rockville Centre Police Commissioner Charles Gennario said that, as of press time, no one from Rockville Centre has been a victim.

The district has held many seminars for parents and students about the dangers of sending out pictures and information online. Parents are encouraged to talk with their children about the dangers of the Internet and how to keep themselves safe.

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