Decisions made in high school can have a lasting impact, sometimes even derailing future career plans.

Just ask Carbon County District Attorney Michael Greek.

During a presentation on hazing, bullying and cyber harassment Tuesday afternoon at Palmerton Area High School, Greek recounted how his own summary offenses as a youth changed his path in the U.S. Armed Forces.

“I couldn’t get into the Air Force to fly jets,” Greek said. “I wanted to fly planes. I ended up having to go into the U.S. Army because of the summary offenses that I had. That record stayed with me all the way through but as an adult.”

While many school hazing and bullying presentations focus on conflict resolution and ways to stop the problem, Tuesday’s program at Palmerton had a different vibe. Greek and County Detective Jack Soberick provided students an overview of the legal consequences associated with those actions.

Starting out with an example close to home, Greek played a video of news coverage from a hazing incident in Tamaqua Area School District last year, which ended with three football players expelled. Police charged 18-year-old Zachary McGlinchey with two counts of simple assault and two counts of harassment in late March 2022. Three other players were charged as minors. Police said McGlinchey punched a victim inside the football house and pushed an object against the victim’s clothed rear end.

“We don’t want a situation like what happened in Tamaqua happening here and that’s why we come out to the schools and do these talks,” Greek said.

Like hazing, bullying also carries with it criminal repercussions. Schools are required to have a bullying program in place and can punish students internally, but that doesn’t prohibit the district attorney’s office from also prosecuting.

“If your actions constitute something that might be a higher degree misdemeanor or a felony, we can charge a juvenile as an adult, even if you’re 17,” Greek told students. “So you’re not magically under an umbrella until you’re the age of 18. These are things you need to take serious when you’re texting people. When you’re talking or when you’re doing anything on social media, be aware of what you’re doing and who you’re sending it out with.”

Soberick, a former police chief and high school teacher, explained the criminal penalties attached to “sexting” crimes, which he called one of the most common mistakes younger people make.

“For some reason, everyone wants to send sexually explicit pictures of themselves,” Soberick said. “This happens all the time. Our office investigates it and we’re charging young folks for it all the time.”

If someone gets a sexually explicit picture and sends it to someone else, the crime rises from a summary offense to a third-degree misdemeanor. Taking such a picture without consent jacks the crime up to a second-degree misdemeanor if it’s done by a minor, or a felony child pornography charge if committed by an adult. Investigators, Soberick said, can retrieve any image or message sent on platforms such as Snapchat or Facebook.

“We’re only telling students this because it has serious effects,” he said. “They’re really young and they have the best years ahead of them. When you leave and go to get a job with the state police or as an attorney or a government job, all of this crap comes back on you.”

In addition to their visit to Palmerton, Greek and Soberick have also recently addressed the student body at Carbon Career & Technical Institute and plan to hit other area districts including Weatherly.