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What Every Parent Needs to Know About Sexting

This is the context in which teenagers are discovering their sexual identities. Sexual exploration and courtship have not changed — it’s the mode that’s changed. Flirting now happens digitally. Arousal often occurs digitally. Negotiated personal boundaries and establishment of trust between lovers takes place digitally. But the laws of attraction remain the same.

Asking our sons and daughters not to sext is like preaching abstinence — and we know how that goes! When we ask our kids to abstain from sexting, we appear just as naive as our parents did. Abstinence doesn’t help kids who are curious about sex make practical decisions to shape a healthy sexual identity. Moreover, it’s hardly…

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A complete guide on how to safely take, send, and store nudes

Being able to instantaneously swap photos with someone no matter the distance can be really fun, but ease can make you ignore potential complications. Just like having sex, sending nudes can have unintended lifelong consequences you might not be willing to deal with. But you can easily minimize risks and protect yourself by being safe.

How Big of a Problem Is Sexting?

Let’s be clear: There are serious risks associated with teen sexting, including bullying and exposure to adult sexual predators. And we know that kids who sext are more likely to have sex than those who don’t. But beyond that, nobody has ever shown that the sexting induces kids to engage in riskier behavior.

It’s Time to Talk to Your Kid About Sexting

Chats about nude selfies may be awkward, but assuming “good” tweens and teens don’t need guidance could have dire consequences.

Sexting: What You Should Know, How You Should Respond

Many people, especially teens who, when in new/unfamiliar situations, tend to act impulsively and emotionally without thinking through longer-term effects, may not be aware of the dangers or consequences of sexting.

Teen Sexting Has Become Even More Common, Research Says

What is concerning to Madigan is that many young people “lack awareness of digital security and safety” by taking nude photos and sending them out. About one in eight teens in the study say they have forwarded a sext—a behavior the authors referred to as nonconsensual sexting—or have sent a text to others without the permission of the original sender.

Teenage Sexting Is Not Child Porn

Like any sexual act, consensual sexting is somewhat risky and requires trust, but it is not inherently harmful as long as partners respect each other’s privacy and are attentive to consent. Studies have found that around 3 percent of Americans report that someone has distributed private sexual images without their permission, and around 10 percent of sexters report negative consequences. The risk of distribution is significantly higher among those who were coerced into sexting.

Teenage sexting: we’re letting young people down by not talking about it

Sexting among young people has become a hotly debated topic over the past few years. Over the same period, our understanding of sexting has evolved. What was originally understood as sending naked or semi-naked images has now expanded to also include videos and text messages of a sexual nature.

Teenagers Are Sexting — Now What?

Our lives these days are intertwined with our digital devices, for good or for ill. That includes adolescent romantic and sexual relationships of all kinds — happy, tragic, mutual, one-sided, healthy, abusive. And experts say that rather than being shocked to find that kids are sexting, we should instead be talking about it from an early age, just as we should about other aspects of their developing sense of their sexual identities.

The Issue With Sexting Isn’t the Sex. It’s the Text

New research suggests that in teenagers, sexting isn’t necessarily an indicator of risky sexual behavior, like having multiple partners, using drugs or alcohol before a sexual encounter, or failing to use protection against an unwanted pregnancy. Instead, researchers conducting a longitudinal study of an ethnically diverse group of adolescent students from Southeast Texas suggest that sexting (which they define narrowly as sending a nude image of oneself by text) is both a common and a normal part of adolescent sexual development.

The Moral Panic Over Sexting

Laws meant to protect young people from sexual predators are instead being used to charge them as felons and put them on sex-offender registries for life.

Time for looking away is over — sexting is our children’s new normal, adults are in denial

Sexting, shared nudes and sextortion are part of a worrying trend among many South African and overseas kids and teens, despite big tech’s promises that it’s taking steps to protect children online. Peer pressure, bullying and even voluntary participation is on the rise. But parents can do something about it.

Want to know why young people are sexting? Try asking them

We know young people are going to experiment sexually – and that they will do so via mobile phones shouldn’t come as a shock. Parents and teachers have a responsibility to understand how young people are engaging with technology if they’re going to be able to keep them safe from abuse, exploitation and blackmail.

We teach school kids about safe sex. We need to teach safe sexting too

Sexting involves taking self-made naked or partially naked sexual photos, videos or explicit texts and sending them online or via a mobile phone. They are more commonly referred to as “nudes” or “dick pics” by young people.

Why Kids Sext

An inquiry into one recent scandal reveals how kids think about sexting—and what parents and police should do about it.