How do I talk to my kids about texting danger?
There’s some new advice on how to protect your kids or grandkids from the dangers they face just by having a smart phone.
Some information recently provided to us by National Children’s Alliance (NCA), the group that unites and represents Children’s Advocacy Centers like CARE House around the country, reminds us that the prevalence of young people who engage in “sexting” continue to climb.
A new study shows that nearly one quarter of kids – 23.3% - had engaged in sexting before the age of 18. This is defined as “the sharing of youth-made images that reveal nudity, female breasts or any minor’s genitals for the purposes of romance, flirtation, sexual gratification, harassment or humor.” If nonconsensual or malicious, this behavior can constitute abuse. Often, that can happen when young people are “inebriated, asleep or otherwise vulnerable.”
So what can you, as a parent, grandparent or caregiver, do? Researchers tell the NCA that telling kids not to “sext” at all may be ineffective, because adults don’t always have credibility when it comes to the use of technology with many kids. Instead, it’s suggested you talk to your with kids as part of “discussions of boundaries, consent, respect and healthy relationships. This helps them to see the harm in sharing images non-consensually and validates youth who are disinclined to share images.”
As part of our commitment to prevention education, this is a subject we’ll continue to discuss at CARE House. As the NCA tells us, “online sexting by minors is extremely risky and the study can be useful in finding additional ways to help protect our youth from those risks.”
For more on how you can help keep kids safe while they’re connected via their devices, these tips from the National Child Traumatic Stress Network may be helpful.
If you’d like to read more about the research study, click here. Thank you for your diligence in protecting kids, because as we all agree – it shouldn’t hurt to be child.
Blythe Tyler
President and CEO