What is sexting?
The term ‘sexting’ is used to describe the exchange of sexually explicit images, photos, messages or videos and it generally includes messages sent via email, text, messenger or social media.
Why do people participate in sexting?
There are many reasons why young people participate in sexting. They feel they love and trust their partner and it's a good way of affirming their feelings.
It may be down to peer pressure - whether it be a demanding partner or friends encouraging them to send something, or even an adult they've met online.
What are the consequences?
Sexting can have a long-lasting impact on a child's self-esteem and their reputation. Sometimes images that were not intended for sharing beyond the recipient can spread incredibly quickly, causing the sender huge emotional distress and have drastic inpact on mental health.
It can lead to negative comments and bullying as explicit content can spread very quickly over the internet and affect your child's reputation at school or in the community. It could also affect education and employment prospects.
When children engage in sexting they're creating an indecent image of a person under the age of 18 which, even if they take it themselves, is against the law. Distributing an indecent image of a child - sending it on via text - is also illegal.
What can I do to prevent it?
Firstly, talk to your child about it and encourage them to think about everything they send, asking "Would I want my family, teachers or future employer to see this?"
If children understand this early it can be applied to how they behave online in general.
Talk about peer pressure and stress the importance of trust, respect and consent in healthy relationships. And remind them of the consequences.
How Do I Deal With It?
Explore the facts: Find out who the content was shared with initially and find out if it's been shared with malicious intent or not.
Contact school: Your child's school can help provide support and they should have a process in place to stop the image spreading further.
Report it: If you think the image has been shared with an adult, you need to contact CEOP - Child Exploitation and Online Protection – who are the police department for online child sexual exploitation.
Contact the website or provider: Social media sites should remove the image if asked. If the image has been shared via mobile, the provider should be able to provide you with a new number.
Contact ChildLine: If your child calls ChildLine and reports the image they will work with the Internet Watch Foundation to get all known copies of the image removed from online.
Remember, your connection and acceptance to your child is the most important factor in helping reduce the impact of this issue.
When should I do something?
Don’t wait for an incident to happen. You should start talking to your child about the dangers of sexting as soon as they start using the internet or get a mobile phone.
For more information and resources to help keep children safe online visit internetmatters.org
By Carolyn Bunting, General Manager of Internet Matters
Internet Matters is an independent, not-for-profit organisation which aims to help parents keep their children safe online. It was founded by the UK’s four major broadband providers; BT, Sky, TalkTalk and Virgin Media, and is also partnered with the BBC, Google, Facebook, EE and Dixons Carphone. Internet Matters is an Executive Member of UKCCIS (UK Council for Child Internet Safety) and an industry expert working with The Royal Foundation task force on the Prevention of Cyberbullying, founded by the Duke of Cambridge.
