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North East law firm calls for ‘robust school policies’ after indecent ‘selfie’ is recorded as crime

An indecent ‘selfie’ could mean a pupil’s details will be retained in police records for 10 years and even shared with potential employers in the future, the BBC reports.

A boy, aged 14, sent a naked image of himself to a girl at school, who later on distributed it to other pupils.

While there were no formal arrests or charges made, the incident has now been officially recorded as a crime.

The schoolboy’s mother told the BBC that the school police officer warned the incident could also be flagged up in a DBS check if her son ever wanted to work with children, for example.

Muckle correct up to date logoTony McPhillips, Head of Education at Muckle LLP, told SCHOOLS NorthEast:

“Regrettably the sending of SGIIs (self-generated indecent images) between pupils in schools remains far too prevalent despite the best efforts of staff to educate students of the dangers  and consequences of ‘sexting’. The problem is a potential  ticking bomb and this widely reported case highlights ominous further consequences to students who frequently perceive this behaviour  as innocuous and acceptable. Most schools already recognise they owe a duty of care to all their students and have for some time taken action to protect students’  interests and to reaffirm the message – delivered through educational programmes – that such behaviour is not acceptable under any circumstances.

Whilst I have no doubt such programmes will continue with renewed vigour I share the Criminal Bar Association’s concerns expressed in this case about the dangers of needlessly criminalising children . Nobody can dispute that the priority must be to protect our children but I fear that if an approach is adopted where the starting point is that a criminal offence may have been committed then ultimately it could be the police not the school or the parents who may decide how matters are dealt with moving forward. This raises the question as to whether they are really best placed to do this or indeed even properly trained or resourced to do so if it is a minor incident. Remember in this case the boy was not formally arrested or charged.

I can foresee a scenario, and have already advised on such situations, where a school believes an incident to be relatively innocuous and as a matter of public duty have reported it to the police only to find they have adopted a disproportionately heavy-handed approach. I think it is deeply troubling that a school may think twice about mentioning a minor incident to the community police officer for fear of the consequences it may bring to one of its students.

This case highlights the ongoing need for robust school policies, effective education programmes and a commonsense and proportionate approach being adopted by everybody if a problem arises.”

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