Parents Respond To Sexting

This morning we have been talking about the recent study that concludes 30% of teens have “sexted”. We were shocked to hear such a high number of children were involved in this risky activity. More importantly, we are searching for solutions and we have received a few great ideas so far.

Nearly 30 percent of U.S. teenagers are sexting, sending nude photos via email or text, according to a study that shows the behavior is more common than previously thought.

Researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch also found that more than half of teens have been asked to send a nude photo of themselves to someone, and 31 percent had requested a naked picture to be sent to them. –Patricia Reaney, Reuters

We received some great tips from you this morning:

1. Check your teenager’s phone and Facebook accounts. And check them often. Never become complacent. And be sure to let your children know that you are watching their activity closely. Children need involved parents.

2. Thanks to a caller, we also learned about a “photo deleting” app. The app deletes any photos that you send from your cell phone within a few seconds of the photo being viewed, decreasing the risk of the photo circulating the entire school. I know, you hope your child will never send any risque photos–but, if it does happen at least this app can hopefully keep the photo from going viral. You might want to check and see if your child has this app on their phone. . . then you might have some questions for them.

3. When in doubt or all else fails, many callers said they just took away the smart phones and their child either goes without a cell phone or uses a phone without photo and/or text capabilities.