Much ado about sexting

Date

2010

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

National Institute of Justice.

Abstract

Given the large number of youths participating in sexting, and the general belief that their behaviors are more foolish than criminal, law enforcement and prosecution should not be the first response. More logically, parents and educators should be the first to respond to sexting. Since sexting among adults is legal, and the vast majority of sexting activity appears to be performed by young people, it makes sense to place monitoring and punishment in the hands of those most likely to encounter youth sexting. Although this paper recommends that parents and educators play the roles of first responders in sexting incidents, it also recommends that they be taught to identify signs that more serious child pornography activity is also present and to notify law enforcement officials if a formal investigation seems warranted. In all cases, investigations should operate under the principle that the protection of potential victims is the first priority. How parents and educators can best respond is a matter for further reflection. Teens do not need education on dangers of sexting. In the Cox Communications survey, 90 percent of the youth surveyed agreed that sexting was somewhat dangerous or very dangerous, and 74 percent said it was wrong. The evaluation of i-SAFE, a school Internet safety program, produced similar results. Children who participated in the program gained knowledge, but no differences in risky behavior were observed relative to children who did not participate. On the other hand, parents and educators need to be educated as to what sexting is, how it can be monitored and how to talk with young people about it. NetSmartz411 helps parents learn about online vocabulary and trends, and provides advice for monitoring a child’s cell phone use. In addition, it offers free classroom learning modules for educators. Educators may want to also consider partnerships with parents and community groups to further the dissemination of information on sexting. (Author Text)

Description

Keywords

sexting, summary report, adolescents, explicit images, self-exploitation

Citation

Jolicoeur, M., & Zedlewski, E. W. (2010). Much ado about sexting. National Institute of Justice.

DOI