Sexting Dangers

Now, more than ever, sexting needs to be discussed. A study conducted by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy identified that a whopping [bctt tweet=”19% of teenagers had engaged in some form of sexting”]. It’s not a pretty subject, nor is it a light one, but it’s one that parents need to touch on with their children due to the very real dangers it presents. Sexting is the act of sending explicit photographs or messages via cell phone, tablet, laptop, or other internet compatible device. It’s become wildly popular among high school teens, and even some middle school children participate in this growing trend. However, they participate in it without understanding the seriousness of their actions, or the potential consequences.

To adolescents seeking attention from the opposite sex, sending a nude or semi-nude photograph to someone they believe they can trust seems like harmless fun. They believe it will make the person on the receiving end like them more, and they believe that there is little or no risk involved. They naively believe that they can trust this person to keep the picture to themselves. More often than not, the person on the receiving end is not as trustworthy as they initially came off, and the photographs are immediately distributed without the consent of the person in the picture. The teen suddenly finds that his or her intimate picture is all over school, and what seemed like harmless fun quickly turns into something much more devastating. It’s tough enough getting through school without being called nasty names and having every inch of you displayed and scrutinized by your peers. Tragically, this exact scenario has lead to a lot of heartache for a lot of teenagers, and even caused some humiliated teens to commit suicide, as in the cases of young girls Audrie Pott, Jesse Logan, Hope Witsell and others.

This leaves parents with a dilemma – how can they keep their children from making these mistakes? [bctt tweet=”The answer is simple: Education, on both parts”]. Parents need to become educated on the topic of sexting and the potential dangers, and they need to share this information with their children. It may not be an easy topic to discuss, but once the teen is aware of the dangers this seemingly small action presents, they will think twice about hitting send.

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