The above video comes from The Today Show and features the tragic story of Florida teenager Hope Witsell. Three months ago, 13-year-old Hope Witsell hung herself in her bedroom. What makes an otherwise bright and promising teenage girl decide to end her life? For several months prior to her suicide, Hope Witsell had been bullied and tormented at school because of “sexting.”

At the end of her 7th grade year, Hope had taken explicit cell phone images of herself topless and sent them to a boy at school. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the message was intercepted, or willingly shared with others, eventually becoming fodder for the middle school’s gossip mill. Before long, Hope was being verbally abused in the hallways, with students openly calling her a “slut” and a “whore.”

Eventually, school administrators got word of the images and suspended Hope for a week and removed her from her position as an advisor to the FFA. At home, Hope’s parents did their best to show Hope the severity of her actions, grounding her for a long period of time and taking away her cell phone and computer, but by that point the damage was already done. At school the following year, Hope began exhibiting dangerous behavior, including cutting herself.

While the school noticed her cuts and talked with Hope about her behavior, they never informed her parents. If they had, perhaps Hope could have gotten the help she needed before she decided to hang herself, but unfortunately, there is no way of knowing.

This isn’t the first time we’ve written about sexting here at the Reputation.com Blog. According to recent studies, almost one in five teens have participated in sexting. When young adults are added to the mix, the number rises to one in three. The issue has become not only a problem for teens, but for law enforcement agencies who are trying to figure out whether teens who take and distribute the images should be held liable for child pornography.

So what can we do about this problem? For one thing, we can work together to educate and inform teens about the consequences of sexting and other inappropriate uses of technology. Thankfully, steps have already been taken to do just this.

Today, MTV launched “A Thin Line,” a multi-year campaign to help teens learn how to manage the social pressure of sexting and other critical issues such as preventing cyberbullying. Included among the campaign’s leadership are attorney Parry Aftab and psychologist Dr. Jill Murray, along with some of the nation’s other leading experts in internet law, teen health and behavior, and digital safety.

While the “A Thin Line” campaign is an important first step, it is incumbent upon all parents, teachers, school counselors, and administrators to understand both the benefits and the dangers inherent to modern technologies. Sadly, it is too late to help Hope Witsell, but there are other young men and women across the country struggling with these same issues. We must work together to reach out and help them.