Metro

Brooklyn junior high school racks up most suspensions in city for sexting

Brooklyn’s Edward B. Shallow Junior High School.

Brooklyn’s Edward B. Shallow Junior High School. (Helayne Seidman)

OMG! Officials at Brooklyn’s Edward B. Shallow Junior High School cracked down on sexting among students. (
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This school is ground zero for the war on sexting.

Edward B. Shallow Junior High School in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, suspended more students than any other city school for making or posting sexually suggestive comments, lewd behavior and sending X-rated messages or photos.

A controversial rule against engaging in such conduct — even after school hours — was added to the Department of Education discipline code in June 2010. Last school year, nearly 500 schools suspended kids for violations, DOE data show.

But just 13 schools tallied 10 or more such suspensions, and Shallow racked up the most — 32.

Some Shallow students are deep into sexting, several told The Post

One girl said a boy classmate pressured another girl into texting him a picture of her breasts. The photo was forwarded to other students.

“Yeah, I’ve seen it. It was her boobs,” one girl said.

Principal Brenda Champion — who dubs herself “Champion for Children” — is proud of her school’s crackdown. The stats, she said in an e-mail, show Shallow takes mischief “very seriously and addresses any infractions.”

Parents hailed her leadership. The school earned an “A” from the DOE and boasts an after-school program with art, music and homework help.

“She has a zero-tolerance policy,” said Phyllis Cangro, president of the Shallow PTA.

Cangro, a real-estate broker and single mom of twin eighth-graders, screens her sons’ Facebook pages and monitors their texts but doesn’t mind the school looking over their shoulders, too.

“Most kids walk to school by themselves. Parents work late, so maybe don’t have time to see what’s going on,” she said. “A lot is left to the school to make sure they’re safe.”

Halit Selimaj, who has a seventh-grader, also appreciates the effort, saying he works two jobs, as a building super and porter.

“Kids are kids,” he said, “but better safe than sorry.”

Legal experts say the DOE can’t legally regulate sexual behavior on a students’ own time unless they find nude photos of children under 18, which is criminal even when consensual.

“If something happens in cyberspace, off school premises, after school hours, or not related to school activities, the school does not have the legal power to do anything,” said Parry Aftab, a lawyer and child advocate.

The only exception, Aftab said, is if the misdeeds have a “direct and serious impact on the school environment,” or violate a kid’s civil rights.

The US Supreme Court will have to decide the extent of schools’ jurisdiction, she said.

Meanwhile, with raging hormones, Facebook and cellphones, the hanky-panky is likely to persist, parents and teachers said.

While the DOE bans cellphones in schools, students at Shallow and other schools without metal detectors sneak them in — and parents want their kids to carry phones.

A teacher said, “It’s a perfect storm.”