Grace in ED271: Sexting and Textual Harassment

WHAT IS SEXTING?

When people take and send sexually revealing pictures of themselves or send sexually explicit messages via text message.

WHAT IS TEXTUAL HARASSMENT?

Repeatedly texting one’s cell phone to the point of harassment.

STATISTICS

33% of teen boys and 25% of teen girls say they have had nude/semi nude images – originally meant to be private- shared with them
3 in 10 young people have been involved in sexting
61% of those who sent a sext of themselves have been pressured to do so at least once
Nearly 1 in 5 sext recipients have passed the sext along to someone else
More than 50% of those who shared a sext shared with multiple people
Sexters are 4x more likely to consider suicide in the past years than those who don’t

~ National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy

~ MTV’s A Thin Line- Sexting Facts (http://www.atthinline.org/facts/sexting)

PREVENTION

THINK about the consequences of taking, sending, or forwarding a sexual picture of someone underage, even if it is you.
BECAUSE you could…
Get kicked off your sports team, become humiliated, lose opportunities, or get in trouble with the law.
NEVER take photos of yourself that you wouldn’t want everyone to see
LIKE your parents, your teachers, your classmates, etc.
BE CAREFUL. If you forward a sexual picture of someone underage, you are responsible for this image as the ORIGINAL sender.
EVENTUALLY you could face child pornography charges, go to jail, and have to register as a sex offender.
WAIT. Before hitting send always remember that you cannot control where the image goes and who sees.
BECAUSE what you send your boyfriend or girlfriend could end up with your friend, his friend, his auntie, your uncle, etc… YIKES!
REPORT any nude pictures you receive on your cell phone to an adult you trust.
DO NOT delete the message. Get your parents/guardians, school counselors involved IMMEDIATELY.

http://www.doj.state.wi.us/news/files/sextingprevention.pdf

TIPS FOR PARENTS/TEACHERS

DON’T WAIT for an incident to happen to your child/student or your child’s/student’s friends before you talk about the consequences of sexting.
REMIND your kids/students that once an image is sent, it can never be retrieved—and they will lose control of it.
TALK about the pressures to send revealing photos. Let teens know that you understand how they can be pushed or dared into sending something. Tell them that no matter how big the social pressure is, the potential social humiliation can be hundreds of times worse.
TEACH your children/students that the buck stops with them. If someone sends them a photo, they should delete it immediately. It’s better to be a part of the solution than the problem. Besides, if they send it on, they’re distributing pornography – and that is against the law.
CHECK OUT thatsnotcool.com. It’s a fabulous site that gives kids the language and support to take texting and cell phone power back into their own hands. It’s also a great resource for parents who are uncomfortable dealing directly with this issue.

Grace in ED271