Vashon High School principal Danny Rock said he received the first anonymous tip of the school year about sexting recently. Now, he and vice principal Alanah Baron are working to determine what the school’s role is in starting conversations about digital safety, sexting, consent and the legal ramifications of such behavior.

“We have had reports this year of students who have been sending one another nude photos of themselves (known as “sexting,” the practice can also include the sending and receiving of explicit texts), as well as sharing those photos with others,” Rock said in a recent email to school families.

In an interview last week, he said he believes there are students at every grade level, starting at McMurray Middle School, participating in the sharing of nude photos.

“It’s a pretty pervasive practice, but I don’t think absolutely everyone is doing it,” he said.

Rock and Baron have met with students in all of the high school’s grade levels and now are in the midst of planning school-wide discussions about the topic, as well as ensuring conversations are happening at the students’ homes. In discussions with students, Rock said he was told that parents need to initiate conversations around this topic as students don’t feel comfortable bringing it up. He also said that the conversation needs to be ongoing, as students receive information in their sexual education classes when they’re 14, but the majority of sexting activity tends to happen between the ages of 16 and 18.

“The meetings I had (with students) and the email (to parents) was focused on education, not discipline,” Rock said. “My main goal in talking with students was figuring out how to have effective conversations around this topic. This is relatively uncharted territory and it’s so outside most people’s experiences. It’s baffling.”

In fact, the concept is so new that the ramifications of sexting between minors are just beginning to make headlines. According to The Seattle Times, in June of 2015, 11 cellphones were confiscated from students at Bothell junior high schools after detectives received tips about sexting that was occurring at two of the schools. The June article indicates that detectives initially found that several boys encouraged girls to send nude photos of themselves to the boys’ cell phones. In some instances, girls were pressured to send images or received threats that their photos would be shared if they didn’t share more.

Similarly, in August of 2014, a Virginia high school was investigated after a mother reported “suspicious activity” on her daughter’s Instagram page, The Washington Post reports. A total of 25 cell phones were confiscated after detectives reportedly found an entire Instagram page dedicated to nude photos of female students.

“To me, the core issue is consent, which is both a simple concept and incredibly difficult,” Rock said. “I think there are students who share pictures in the hopes of a relationship or in a context where they think they’re being anonymous by cropping out their face or something, but it comes back to them.”

Vice principal Baron’s advice: Just don’t take the photos.

“There’s a lack of belief in the permanence of digital communication,” she said. “Once it leaves your hands, you have no control over it (where it will go).”

Vashon High School does not have a policy prohibiting the use of cell phones. Rock said he allows teachers to use their own discretion with cell phone policies, as he believes that learning about when cell phone use is and is not appropriate and what uses are appropriate teaches more about the real world than just prohibiting use altogether. However, the policies allowing for more student discretion also present issues.

“Looser rules around access (to phones) opens it up to bullying, breakups, drama, all of the above and sexting,” Rock said. “One of the things that is challenging is to decide how much to use screens in the learning environment. I would rather have students be honest about their use instead of having it grow in secrecy and deception. I’d rather see (the negative behavior) and help them.”

Working with high school administrators to help students and parents understand the potential dangers of the current technological world is Vashon’s substance abuse organization, the Vashon Alliance to Reduce Substance Abuse (VARSA). This month is Digital Safety Awareness Month, and VARSA began the awareness effort on Tuesday with a screening of the film “Screenagers,” and this week, the organization will host a discussion about being screen wise and provide a book list and other resources about screen time and its effect on children and teens.

Later this month, sex educator Jo Langford will return to the island as a keynote speaker to discuss “digital citizenship,” including discovering why and when it is important to have conversations with children around technology, internet safety, smartphone guidelines and the nature of social media. Langford spoke last spring at a VARSA event, and the organization’s co-chair, Lisa MacLeod, said his talk was the best attended in the series.

Reached Monday, he said that sexting is a topic he will cover along with porn and cyber-bullying. He said that the “big trap” with kids and sexting is that the ones who understand they can get in trouble don’t realize how much trouble they can get into, while most other children and teens feel they are invincible.

“This is happening to kids all over the world,” he said. “All it takes is one person to complain that they didn’t want that photo out, including parents.”

He cited an incident from November of 2015 when a Colorado high school was federally investigated after it was discovered that students exchanged hundreds of nude photos of themselves. An undisclosed number of students were suspended, according to a CNN article, but no criminal charges were brought.

VARSA’s MacLeod said she hopes the month’s activities will help parents understand what is really going on with their children.

“When I talk to parents about sexting, there’s a disconnect between what’s happening and what they think it is,” she said. “There’s such a big difference in how accessible pornography is now; it’s not just magazines hidden in a drawer. It’s graphic, moving pictures that they can look at in their math class. Adults need to understand how to navigate this ever-expanding digital world.”

Back at the high school, Baron said that the school’s sexting tip and resulting conversations are giving the school a “great opportunity to open a conversation with all our students.”

Rock agrees. He said he now feels like the context is right for a school-wide conversation.

“We’re starting to understand more,” he said. “The vernacular and familiarity has been growing. I want them (the students) to be prepared. I don’t exactly know where we’re headed, but I’m hoping it will lead to good things.”

Digital Safety Month events:

“Get Screenwise” discussion with reading list and resources: 6 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 12 at McMurray Middle School

Keynote Speaker Jo Langford: 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 26 at Vashon High School