Dealing with sexting

If your child has sent or received a nude, get advice on what support you can expect from organisations and what you can do to deal with sexting.

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Quick tips
5 things you need to know about dealing with sexting

Most young people don’t see sexting as a problem and are reluctant to talk to adults about dealing with it because they’re afraid of being judged or having their phones taken away. If your child has shared an explicit photo or video of themselves they may be very upset, especially if it’s been widely circulated.

If you become aware of this, try to stay calm and reassure them that they have your support. Let them know you’ll help them deal with sexting by taking the following steps:

Explore the facts

Ask your child who they shared the content with first, who passed it on next, and whether someone shared it to cause harm or as a joke that went wrong.

Contact the website or provider

Social networking sites should remove an image if asked. If the image has been shared via a mobile phone, contact the provider who should be able to provide you with a new number.

Contact Childline

If your child calls Childline to report the image, Childline works with the Internet Watch Foundation to remove all known copies of the image from the internet.

Call the school

Your child’s school will be able to help you deal with the repercussions and support your child at school. If other children at the school have shared the image, the school should have a process to handle it and can help stop the image from spreading further

Report it

If you suspect an adult has received the image, contact the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP), the national police lead for online child sexual exploitation.

What is online sexual harassment?

Online sexual harassment is described as ‘unwanted sexual conduct on any digital platform and is seen as a form of sexual violence. It can include a range of behaviours that use content online (images, messages, posts or videos) on number of platforms.

It can make young people feel:

Threatened
Exploited
Coerced
Humiliated
Upset
Sexualised
Discriminated against

According to Childnet’s Project deSHAME report, online sexual harassment is taking place between young people as almost a third of girls ages 13-17 years (31%) have received unwanted sexual messages online from their peers (compared to 11% of boys) in the last year.

How can you support young people dealing with sexting?

Reassure your child that they come talk to you or a trusted adult or organisations like Childline to get confidential support. The Mix provide a support helpline for under 25s and Stonewall also offer advice to young lesbian, gay, bi and trans people to help them find local services. Advise your child to report it if they see it. Tell them not to go along with it but call it out if it happens

Project deSHAME from Childnet

View report

Where to go for help

If you are concerned and need help dealing with the sexting issue with your child, here is a list of organisations that can support you.

Information for children, adults or teachers on staying safe on the internet
Internet Watch Foundation – provide support to removes explicit images or videos of children
Police helpline – 101 for non-emergency support
Parent Protect helpline 0808 1000 900 – works to prevent child abuse
Contact Childline online or 0800 1111