What can you do if your child has an issue with 'sexting'?

'Sexting' isn't going away anytime soon and it can be emotionally difficult for your child or teen to deal with whether they're sending, receiving or looking at inappropriate images or messages online. They may not fully appreciate the dangers or potential consequences and will be counting on you for support and effective prevention and coping strategies. They may also be acutely embarrassed to bring the matter to your attention, so keep an open mind and provide non-judgemental help when they ask for it – because it's not always easy for them to do that.

Sexting involves the sharing of sexually explicit or inappropriate content on digital devices. Young people do it for all kinds of reasons: peer pressure, desire for approval, flirtation, to bully or control others, etc. Today's apps make it easy for kids to communicate in an instant and quite often, they have no idea how much trouble they can get into by sharing something rude or inappropriate. They may not even be aware that sending, looking at or encouraging someone lese to look at sexual images of a minor is illegal in Australia.

Your best approach to talking with your kids about sexting is to encourage open dialogue. You want them to be more likely to talk to you about it than hide what they're experiencing. Listen – don't judge. Find out where their heads are at when it comes to what they and their friends are sharing online. Encourage them to think about the consequences and stress how

hard it is to 'take back' a nasty message or rude photo once they've pressed that SEND or SHARE button.

If your child is receiving inappropriate content, you may need to use some kind of parental control on their devices. Explain what is okay to share online and what isn't (personal holiday plans, their address, certain types of photos/videos, etc.). Warn them about online predators and what can happen if explicit content ends up in the wrong hands. If you feel it's necessary, monitor your child's activities on social networking sites. If you discover your child has become involved in sexting, you can ask the Internet Watch Foundation to search for explicit videos or photos of your child to try and remove them. Find out who your child sent the material to and if they believe it's been shared with others. If an adult asked them to send an illicit image, this is known as 'online grooming' and is against the law, so contact the police for advice. You should also report the offensive content to the relevant social media platform if applicable – Net Aware is a great information source on how to keep kids safe on social networking sites. If the situation is school-related, contact the child's school to see if they can help – most schools have policies and procedures in place to handle these kinds of issues.