Sexting is a national epidemic that has made it's way in to every parents concious and lexicon. Today, Parents Ask expert Joanne Stern PhD offers advice to a concerned reader who has recently discovered that her young daughter has been sexting:

Q: What can you do once you find out that your child has been sexting aside from taking the phone and computer away?



A: Kids in today’s digital world have access to technology every place they turn. Unfortunately, you just can’t lock ‘em and block ‘em out of their computers because they just use a friend’s. In addition, their passwords are not private – they log onto other kids’ accounts and pretend to be someone else on their own accounts. So taking away their cell phones and computers doesn’t keep them off-line. That being said, it is a powerful statement from parents to take away computers and try to restrict their usage. It lets kids know that they have really crossed a line and that you are serious about them being responsible users of the technology they have.



The most important thing you can do for your kids is to talk with them because, in the end, it is your ability to talk with them—not your attempts to control them—that gives you your best chance of them not being involved in inappropriate use of their cell phones and computers. Kids need to know that sexting is a potential felony porn charge—and young people have been charged and convicted, requiring them to register as sex offenders for the rest of their lives. Their nude and semi-nude photos live in cyberspace forever, for anyone to see—a circumstance that may cause them great humiliation and damage in their future. Employers and college admissions boards are beginning to look on the internet to check out their future employees and their student candidates. What they find can sway their decisions in a negative way and prevent kids from getting into the colleges they want or the jobs of their choice. Sexting is on the rise. Statistics show that between 20% and 30% of teens are involved in either sending or receiving sexts.  Let’s hope that parents have the strong, positive relationships with their kids necessary to help guide them through these dangerous waters.