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What is Sexting?
A combination of the words sex and texting, "sexting" is the act of distributing pornographic material through mobile devices such as cell phones. Most cell phones have the capability to send not only text messages but images and videos as well. While sexting does include erotic or sexually explicit text, the term generally refers to the sending of graphic images.
Concerns for Parents
- Your kids may be taking inappropriate pictures of themselves or their friends and distributing them to others.
- Once someone takes a picture and distributes it online, it never really goes away. These pictures could come back to haunt your child years after they are first taken and passed around.
- Even if your child isn't actively participating by creating pictures to send out, using a cell phone that is capable of sending and receiving images puts your child at risk for receiving this kind of material.
- Having such pictures on your phone may be considered possession of child pornography. This is a crime that is punished aggressively. Your child may think goofing around with a cell phone in this way is fun and exciting, but this "harmless fun" could result in serious legal consequences.
How Can I Keep My Child Safe?
- Talk to your child about sexting. Your kids have almost certainly heard of sexting, and may even be involved in it without realizing its serious consequences.
- Go through your child's phone. Delete any questionable videos or images you may find. After this initial cleaning-out, let your kids know that you will be checking their phones on a regular basis--and make good on this promise!
- Report any illegal activity you are aware of immediately. Sexting only gets more and more out of control the longer it goes on. Blowing the whistle on your kids or their friends is the safest thing to do, the smartest thing to do, and it's the right thing to do.
- You may want to remove Internet access as well as picture- and video-sending capabilities from your child's phone. Weigh the benefits of these features with the attendant risks and decide what is right for your family. Once you have decided, call your cell phone service provider and choose a safe option.
Where Can I Learn More?
This is a must: have your kids watch this interactive video from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. It gets its message across.
Watch this CBS News video that explains the potential criminal charges related to sexting.
Sexting can result in tragedy. Read this article about an Ohio teen who committed suicide when she could no longer face the taunting and harassment brought on by the photos of herself that were distributed at her high school.
Read this pamphlet about sexting provided by NetSmartz.com.
