Montgomery County police are currently investigating a major sexting scandal involving both Pyle and Whitman students.

In a letter distributed to students, Pyle principal Michael Zarchin said that he learned of the situation after a student came to school with an i-Pod touch that contained inappropriate photos and videos of female students.

After conducting a school-wide investigation, the administration determined that female students had posed for inappropriate photographs and videos and sent them to other students by text message and e-mail.   Certain students who received the pictures and videos then sold them to other individuals.

The administration immediately notified the parents of students posing for and selling the photographs, Zarchin stated in the letter.

Police are continuing to conduct interviews and gather information, Montgomery County police media spokesperson sergeant C. Thomas Jordan said.   Investigators will speak with the state attorney’s office before officially charging the students.

“Whenever you have pictures of underage people, child pornography laws are always a consideration,” Jordan said.

Though the scandal caused much outrage throughout the community, Whitman parent Alan Isaac said he thinks that police involvement is unnecessary.

“The situation is being taken so seriously because our legal system is unable to adequately distinguish the unsurprising prurience of some young teens from the properly criminal behavior of pedophiles,” Isaac said. “In a different legal environment, the principal would have contacted only the involved parents and not the police.  The kids would have been better off.”

Principal Alan Goodwin said he was shocked to hear that students willingly partook in such dangerous and inappropriate acts.

“I was discouraged, saddened and angry,” Goodwin said.  “Students know that a main priority of mine is their safety. I’m disappointed that some students have participated in a behavior that they know is unsafe.”

A Washington Post article about the scandal noted that sexting is extremely prevalent across the country, citing a National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy study, which found that 20 percent of teens have sent or posted nude or semi-nude photos or videos of themselves.

Pop culture plays a major role in encouraging students to participate in dangerous activities like sexting, Goodwin explained.

“We fight a pervasive culture that we have to struggle against every day,” Goodwin said.  “This is just another example of kids making bad decisions because they think it’s okay based on what they see in pop cultures.

Though sexting is a frequent occurrence throughout the country, an eighth-grader said she was shocked that a sexting incident of this magnitude occurred at Pyle.

“I was definitely surprised that something to this extent happened,” she said.  “It’s just so serious that it’s hard to believe.”

On the other hand, another Pyle eighth grader said she wasn’t at all shocked by the news.

“I had heard that people were taking nude pictures of themselves before, the teachers and administration just didn’t know.” she said. “I’m surprised at how big a deal it has become.”

The student also noted that she thought the administration handled the situation relatively well.  In addition to tracking down those who was involved with the scandal, Zarchin also delivered a video message to the student body that reiterated the points made in the letter.

“I think that for such a serious and sensitive issue they did the best they could,” the student said.  “I appreciated that they addressed it directly.”

In the weeks to come, Zarchin says he and the rest of the administration hope to achieve a sense of normalcy at Pyle.

“Our main focus right now is to make sure that the students involved feel comfortable in the building and start to move past this,” Zarchin said.  “We don’t want people to lose sight of all the good things going on at Pyle.”