Illinois May Teach About Sexting & E-Cigs In Health Classes

Kids today have a lot more to deal with in school than we did. Sure somethings never change, but with the addition of technology and vaping, kids have a few more decisions to make than previous generations.

Vaping has been sometimes marketed as the healthier alternative to smoking, they aren't, and over 20% of high school students have admitted to trying them. The vaping devices make it harder for parents to catch their kids too! No longer can you rely on the smell of tobacco on your kids clothing or breath to determine if they have been smoking. With vape pens and e-cigarettes, there isn't the need to finish it like one would a cigarette and a quick puff could easily be done without a parent noticing. Even with some of the flavors being pulled off the shelves, a lot of the remaining ones are still popular for teenagers.

The other problem many kids face today is sexting. Over 15% of students have sent someone something explicit and 27% have received them according to a 2018 study in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Many kids may not know that sending and receiving these explicit images could effect them for the rest of their life, like being placed on the sex offender registry.

Two bills that would require public schools to teach about the dangers of sexting and e-cigs in health classes are moving up the ranks in the Illinois House according to Kendall County Now.

Some argue that sexting shouldn't be something schools teach students about. Some schools don't even have sex ed and would make it difficult to teach about sexting. Some schools already teach about cyber bullying and lump it together with sexting.

Many health classes discuss vaping or e-cigs when discussing the use of tobacco but some think it's not enough.

Should schools be tasked with the responsibility of teaching kids about the dangers of sexting and vaping or should this be something done outside of school with parents doing the teaching? Let us know in the comments below!