Parents of Salem High School students met with school and law enforcement officials to address the issue of graphic photographs of young women that circulated throughout the student body via cell phones late last week.

Administrators, police and County Attorney Jim Reams scheduled the Monday, Nov. 10, meeting in the high school auditorium after two explicit photographs of several young women in various stages of undress – some completely nude, police said – were turned over to authorities by a student on Thursday, Nov. 6.

“It’s not the same world that we grew up in,” Principal William Hagen told parents. “I don’t know the answers, but we do need to help our kids to responsibly use the power of cyberspace and the Internet.”

Authorities said at least one of the young women is under the age of 16. Two of the girls have been identified by the police as students at the high school. Police believe that the young women had taken some of the photographs by themselves, while others had been taken by a third party.

Several other students came forward following a school assembly with law enforcement and the county attorney last week with more photographs. Hagen told parents that authorities believe the incident involved three or four different images. While the students who possessed or sent the photographs could theoretically have charges brought against them, Reams said prosecution was unlikely.

Though the investigation continues, authorities believe the young women were not victimized. School administrators reached out to parents after the incident when Superintendent Michael Delahanty sent out a letter inviting parents to attend the informational meeting.

Resident Paul Mastrogiacomo had been thinking about installing software on his computer that would monitor the activities of his children. He said the information presented at the meeting pushed him further in that direction.

“Like any parent, I was very concerned and I’m glad they addressed it. I think its good they brought it to the kids’ attention to let them know how serious this is,” Mastrogiacomo said. “It gives them an opportunity to talk to our kids about it so it gets us involved.”

While resident Tina Doherty applauded the steps school and law enforcement officials took to address the incident, she was critical of the low number of parents in attendance at the meeting.

“It was disappointing in terms of the number of parents attending. I’m very happy that the school addressed it the way they did, but I’m disappointed in the parent turnout,” she said.

Approximately 150 parents were at the meeting.

“It reinforces the things I’ve been doing and saying to my kids so that they understand that it is a big deal,” she said.

Delahanty said the incident was not limited to Salem, but it gave administrators and educators the opportunity to bring that sort of adolescent behavior to the forefront and discuss with parents and law enforcement officials the best way to educate the community’s children on the responsible use of technology.

“Each generation of adolescents takes its own risks, and the behavior itself hasn’t changed over time, but the convenience and the risks have elevated considerably,” he said. "These are the kind of things that your kids are doing and it's time to have a conversation with them to make sure they're aware of the consequences."