TAKE THIS STORY DOWN! This is salacious and exploitative, unnecessary and a poor attempt to gain attention by Patch. I think the fact that you have run this story is disgusting and shameful. I have young daughters and I am horrified that you would think that running details like this is "news". What value do you think you are performing for the community? TIME TO BOYCOTT PATCH?

Thank you so much for commenting. We realize the sensitivity of such a story and weigh carefully all issues before deciding to publish. Many of us are parents as well and do not leave that perspective at the door when reporting the news.

There are very real and serious consequences for all the students involved in this case and it's exceedingly difficult for parents to know what their children are exposed to in school and at home given all the technology at their fingertips, often at a very young age.

Other children caught up in similar cases have faced federal child pornography charges that could place them on state-run sex-offender registries forever, not to mention the emotional damage for girls who may naively believe a picture taken privately will stay private.
State legislatures all over the country are taking up this issue, working on setting exceptions to the law to protect teens from facing inappropriate charges, but others worry that sends the wrong message to children that such behavior is acceptable.

We welcome all your thoughts and comments. You can post them here or email me personally at kathleen@patch.com.

I agree with the first commentor. You are bullying this child by trying to create news from her horrible situation. She is being bullied. Bullying is not news in middle school (unfortunately I know that first-hand). But to me, for a "news" organization to bully a 12 year old is shameful. You owe this family an appology.

Both of the previous commenters are way off base. This kind of story is EXACTLY what is needed to bring necessary attention to a rampant problem among our tweens and teens. Our children exposing themselves through digital media is a serious problem in every community, including RYE. We need a thorough discussion with our children, our school administrators and our politicians. Federal pornography charges are not what any kid needs on their record - while bullying and vengeful photo distribution should not go unheeded or unpunished. As parents we need to stop pretending this only happens in other places and address this for what it is...a real problem. Congratualtions to PATCH for presenting the story in a fair and non-sensational manner. Keep up the good work!

As a graduate of Rye City Schools, I think that it is important for stories like this to be shared. It is naive for any adult to think that not talking about an issue or problem will "make it go away". The story did not give any identifying details of the students involved. As adults, we need to set an example for the younger generation. Trying to brush problems under the rug won't solve anything. If you make a mistake at your job, does your employer not address your actions? I don't think so. The only way that issues are resolved is by discussing them. It's time that parents in Rye take their heads out of the sand and realize what's going on in their own homes. I've lived in Rye for decades and can report that this isn't the first instance that a student has been involved in "compromising" situations. Kudos to the Patch and Ed Shine for handling this situation appropriately. It's time that the children of Rye realize that just because they are fortunate enough to live in an affluent town does NOT mean that they are invincible and that there are no consequences to their actions. As a side note, perhaps if parents were more involved in what goes on in their children's lives (read: parental controls on the internet, using the family computer versus having one in their rooms, having a cell phone without text messaging abilities or one without a camera), situations like this wouldn't happen. Also, what parent in their right mind lets their child have a webcam?!?

As a member of RMS, I know the story, and some of these comments are false. It is not that this minor was disliked or harassed, the real story is she was the bully. Throughout the years of 6th, 7th, and 8th grade, she has made nasty comments to other students by using her popularity. What has happened, happened and there is nothing we can do to stop it. It is over rated and ridiculous that outsiders of the school. Mainly, this is the minors fault for lifting up her shirt in front of a webcam, with ability of taking photos, and showing her face and both breasts to a boy in the grade above her. I would be all for this article, if it told the truth because some facts are preposterous and not true. Please edit this article by contacting your sources and finding out the truth. Thank you.

As a student at rye middle school, first of all, this has nothing to do with you or the news. This is exclusivly between the students involved. You actually just made everthing that they are going through a million times worse. So I suggest you delete this stupid article because half of it is exagerated or not true. Get you facts straight. Don't get involved because all you doing is giving rye middle school a bad reputaion. These students are going through a really hard time and this article makes it worse because it is obvious who it is about. Delete this before students press charges againsty you for printing false information. Thanks have a nice life ruining little kids lives by making their one mistake public forever. BYE.

I wouldn't show your face at rye because a lot of people are extremley pissed that this is posted.

Dr. Shibne doesn't know what he is talking about. i think the press and the schools getting involed in this is so stupid. they should leave it to kids and let the kid who flashed they boy go to different school. getting other children in troublw for her mistake isn't right though. and that is what the school is trying to do. if they are going to charge this child from sending it to her friends then they will have to charge everyone else that sent it. this whole thing isn't fair to anyone. but i do agree with taking this off because it looks bad for rye.BYE

I feel that this is article is revealing too much information and that some of your facts here are not fully true. If you want the real story, you might as well interview the boy or the girl themselves, not others who are probably making up random stuff because they dislike this girl who did what she did. Also, If the police is going to press charges on the people who have the picture, it is going to take them a really long time because ALOT of people have it, so just don't even bother. Now that pretty much all of Rye knows about this, I'm sure this girl is extremely upset that this article has been posted. It would be smart to get the truth if you are going to post something like this up here for everyone to view. Thankyou

take this down. you clearly do not know what you are talking about. you should be sued from this FALSE article without permission from Rye Middle School

This is ridiculious. What this says is total false information and totally uncalled for. I know your sources and trust me, they're liars. This girl's name may of not been mention in the article, but saying her nickname, which everyone obviously knows about, shows her idenity which is illegal. Stop this right now and stop humiliating people especially at such young ages. As a student of Rye Middle School, the hall gossip is nothing but talking about this horrible aritlce. Thanks so much for making Rye a gossip town. You made everything so much worse, and I hope you regret what you did, because I know this young 12 year old does too.

she was a bully "RMS". i know the story because i know her and the story all to well and you all dont want to get in ti this and its good that rye parents and student know we are a town with problems and thats normal

Alright, as a student of Rye Middle School and an old friend of the girl, I think that this article is very necessary. It is good that the people of Rye know what is going on. The girl did everything that was described in this article, I know for a fact that this article is 100% true. I don't know who you are saying that, it's false. She was a bully, along with other people who she asked to "help her." This whole thing is ridiculous and this has gone way too far, with the school demanding to see our phones, etc. That is violation of our privacy. We will drop this when she drops it. We have not said anything to her in person nor on the computer. We don't understand why she is making up lies, Dr. Shine and other school officials have gotten involved in which some in necessary, the others in my opinion are very unnecessary. The girls who spoke to this woman, were trying to get their side of the story out first for once, this article was very necessary, some of the points were not needed, but others were, thankyou.

Most of the comments on this subject reveal a real ignorance of the roll of journalism -- let alone punctuation and grammar -- in the world. Are Rye Middle School students learning anything about the function of the press in a democracy?

Are you kidding? Where are the parents in this? Why do we try to make schools take responsibility for behavior that is clearly happening at home? Nothing described here was done in school - except probably a lot of gossip about it. Seems to me the school did right by explaining the consequences of possessing pornographic images on cell phones and computers, although I wonder if they violated privacy laws by "confiscating" cell phones (if the reporter is correct)? I'm also sure there are laws regarding how much the school could share about this, so I think the parents are being unreasonable. This is not the job of schools. Parents must constantly remind their children about stuff like this.

Maybe 11 and 12 year old children shouldn't have webcams. If smart parents took action then none of this would have happened.

- Parent

I think this is ridiculous.I think this has one way to far and dont think you should be posting half true imformation. its not right to invaid this girls privicy and rms

This article is flippin awesome!

Wow. I only just came across this, having been out of Rye for some time now. I really have to laugh at some of the responses to this article. For a community like Rye and a school like Rye Middle School, obviously it is embarrassing (especially because it was swept under the carpet by RCSD) but it is an issue that obviously needed addressed. Rye schools preach about tolerance and awareness.... but when it puts Rye into a bad light it’s a different story. For example, if this were an issue of discrimination based on sexuality I am sure the prestigious Ann Edwards wouldn’t sweep it under the carpet. As well, all the parents that wanted this story taken down are the ones holding their hands over their eyes and ears as to what they are letting their preteens get away with and now it is the backlash they are not prepared to deal with. They should be discussing these serious issues with their children, not calling for it to be swept under the rug because next time, it could be their child and the ignorant parents and administration at RMS will only have themselves to blame.