Sexting has become a serious problem in our youth, with one study finding 69% of the teens they surveyed had sent a sext a girlfriend or boyfriend, so to help combat it the Australian Government has issued a fact sheet for parents to help their children avoid the dangers of sexting. The fact sheet contains a general overview of sexting as well as a list of tips for parents. To help, the following are the tips and a brief description of what they involve.

• Warn your children about the consequences of sexting.
It is important to remind your children of the dangers of sexting, including the legal implications and the dangers of sexual predators.

• Remind children to think before they act.
Often children do not consider the full implications of sexting. Make sure to fully educate them so they know exactly what the dangers are, and will be less likely to do something they will later regret.

• Tell children that sending or possessing child pornography is illegal.
There have been a number of recent cases of teenagers facing criminal charges as a result of sexting throughout Australia, and yet many teenagers remain ignorant of the laws. Remind your child that it is illegal to possess or distribute naked photos of anyone who is under-age, and the penalties for breaking these laws are severe.

• Warn them about sexual predators.
Remind your children how easy it is for photos to fall in to the wrong hands, and warn them that once a photo is online it might be there forever.

• Parents should learn how to use and monitor their children’s mobile phones.
Familiarise yourself with your child’s mobile phone and keep an eye on its usage and content, and get to know what it is and is not capable of.

• Parents should check photo galleries on their children’s Facebook and MySpace accounts.
Shoulder-surf when your children are online, and take a look around their social networking pages. Take the plunge and make your own account, get to know the sites, and make sure to keep up with your children’s activities when online. Make sure to keep an eye on their page to ensure they don’t willingly or otherwise post up information or photos that they may regret.

• Give your children clear rules on what they can and can’t do with their mobile phone.
Establish a firm set of rules of what your child can and cannot do with their mobile phones including consequences for if they break the rules.

You can find the full fact sheet at www.community.nsw.gov.au. (Alternate link here.)

Writer Tristan Boyd, Editor Dr Ramesh Manocha.