“Sexting” is No Laughing Matter
A troubling new trend is sweeping middle and high schools across the country. Using a practice referred to as “sexting,” students are sending and receiving nude or partially-nude photos via cell phones as a joke or way of flirting with one another. Make no mistake --- your child’s school is not immune to this disturbing phenomenon.
So what can parents do to combat “sexting” and other dangerous Internet behavior?
- Talk to your child about the realities of cyber space. Despite what they think, nothing is really private or anonymous. Once an image is sent, the teen has no control over how it will be used, and once it’s online, it may never be deleted.
- Discuss the importance of modesty and purity.
- Parents may simply forbid the sending of pictures entirely and choose to disable that function on their child’s phone or computer, or they may remind older children to avoid being misunderstood by being very careful with the content of their phones.
- View their MySpace and/or Facebook pages yourself. It’s important that you are aware of your children’s online activities.
