Sexting

[Callout Card from That’s Not Cool]

The Family Violence Prevention Fund has a relatively new page about sexting on their website, which in part discusses some of  the legal questions this activity raises. Sexting is essentially teens (often) sending text messages with sexual contact, and it seems like it’s received a flurry of media attention lately (you can check out major media outlet coverage here, here and here).

The problem, beside the obvious, is that sexting isn’t always wholly voluntary–pictures taken may be coerced, or shared with more parties than just the intended recipient. And beyond sexting, the use of camera phones (by assailants or bystanders) in documenting sexual violence has been cropping up with increasing frequency in patients I’ve cared for– and I know I’m not the only clinician seeing it.

So in reading the FVPF‘s page on sexting, and following the links embedded in it, I found myself over at the National Campaign to Prevent Teen & Unplanned Pregnancy. They have a whole campaign on Sex & Tech, stemming from their national survey (PDF) on the same subject. The site includes some videos from teens about sexting that I found particularly insightful. You can also find some tips for parents here (PDF).