Nancy Jo Sales

JACKSON TWP — “They want you to talk to them about it. I know because they told me,” was the advice best-selling author Nancy Jo Sales offered to Seneca Valley parents Monday night.

Sales, the author of “American Girls: Social Media and the Secret Lives of Teenagers,” gave a one-hour talk and answered questions from parents and school officials at Seneca Valley Intermediate High School.

Her book covers many of the negative effects that the advent of smartphones and social networking services have had on young people, especially teenage girls.

Superintendent Tracy Vitale introduced Sales and said that the administration had heard from parents who wanted to discuss these issues.

“I want to make sure that even after tonight this discussion continues in your homes and with your friends,” she said.

To write her book, Sales spent about two years doing research by traveling the country to interview teenagers. She said that teenagers, both rich and poor and from a variety of areas, all experienced many of the same pressures and exhibited many of the same behaviors with social media.

Some of the disconcerting trends that she saw in young people included being constantly distracted, feeling constant social pressure, cyber bullying, objectification of girls and children being exposed to graphic content.

While some of these behaviors, like sexism or bullying, have existed since long before social media, the constant availability of smartphones and computers have accelerated and exacerbated them, she said.

“Smart phone culture, which is barely 5 years old, has created this whole new kind of childhood, a coming of age that didn’t exist before,” Sales said.

“They are constantly encountering situations where they have to make very quick ethical and moral judgments.”

Sales said that many young girls obsess over their image and how they present their “brand” on social media. While catcalling or making lewd comments in person would be considered harassment, that same behavior is often sought after by girls on social media.

While arresting them for possession of child pornography may not be the solution, there are an alarming number of teenagers who send nude photographs to each other, she said. These photos are often shared among peers or even posted publicly to the Internet.

“It’s a new reality that kids are getting to know each other through naked imaging,” she said.

Sales also said that she believes steps need to be taken to curb the spread of pornography, which has become more violent and disturbing in recent years, she said.

Not only is pornography available on smartphones, but it has become increasingly present on social media platforms such as Tumblr, Twitter and even Facebook, which are not obligated to protect their younger users from obscene content, she said.

Sales said that one way to deal with these problems is to delay, as long as possible, teenagers getting their own smart phone. She said she has done interviews with psychologists who agree that delaying their exposure to the behaviors that come along with smartphones is a smart tactic.

Her other piece of advice was for parents to sit down and talk with their children about what types of behaviors they have seen from their peers and what they think is acceptable and not acceptable. Often they are conflicted and forced to make impulsive decisions.

“The worst thing you can do is pretend it isn’t happening,” she said.

At the end of the program, Vitale echoed Sales’ message about parents talking to their children: “We have some really good kids here and they need some help from us.”