NORFOLK ADVOCATES FOR CHILDREN Patricia A. Snell, MA and Amanda S. Wolfe, MPH Education Consultants Norfolk Advocates for Children Norfolk District Attorney’s Office

SEXTING IS A GROWING ISSUE AMONG YOUTH AGES 13+ Sending or forwarding inappropriate photos or videos Any person who is naked, partially naked, or involved in sexual activity Sexually explicit language WWW.NORFOLKADVOCATESFORCHILDREN.COM

THE INTERNET EVERYTHING IS PUBLIC CAN’T CONTROL WHO SAVES OR FORWARDS YOUR PHOTOS, VIDEO, TEXTS, EMAILS OR POSTS APPS. | EASY ACCESS WWW.NORFOLKADVOCATESFORCHILDREN.COM

SEXTING FACTS AND PREVALENCE About a 1/3 of teens are participating (sending or receiving) and the % increases with age1,2 Nearly 1 in 5 sext recipients have passed the pic onto someone else3 1.) Cyber-bullying Research Center: http://www.cyberbullying.us/Sexting_Fact_Sheet.pdf 2.) National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy. Sex and Tech: results from a survey of teens and young adults. 2008 3.) www.athinline.org MTV Digital Abuse Study Executive Summary WWW.NORFOLKADVOCATESFORCHILDREN.COM

SEXTING FACTS AND PREVALENCE Teens who have engaged in sexting behaviors more likely to have had sex than non-sexting teens Girls who engaged in sexting have higher prevalence of risky sex behaviors: multiple partners, using drugs and alcohol before sex4 4.) Teen Sexting and Its Association with Sexual Behaviors. Archives of Pediatric Adolescent Medicine Vol 166 (No.9) September 2012, Journal of American Medicine WWW.NORFOLKADVOCATESFORCHILDREN.COM

COERCION v. CHOICE 51% of teen girls say pressure from a guy is the Reason for sending nude photos5 Of teens who sexted, 66% of girls and 60% of teen boys say they did it Because they wanted to be “fun and flirtatious”5 Girls are more likely to be pressured than boys6 Youth who are coerced to sext face greater risks of emotional impact of shame and regret6 5.) National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy and Unplanned Pregnancy (2008) 6.) Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Center 2011-2012 Studies from National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy & Unplanned Pregnancy (2008), surveyed teens 13-19 and young adults age 20-26. The study from MA Aggression Reduction Center at Bridgewater State College surveyed 18 yr old college freshman about their high school experiences. WWW.NORFOLKADVOCATESFORCHILDREN.COM

ISSUES WITH SEXTING CONSEQUENCES LEGAL CONSEQUENCES No control over where the photo(s) or videos go Could lead to online harassment, cyberbullying, or teen dating violence Social humiliation and damage to reputation School consequences suspension / expulsion Self harm and/or suicide LEGAL CONSEQUENCES WWW.NORFOLKADVOCATESFORCHILDREN.COM

CURRENT CONVICTIONS LEGAL CONSEQUENCES Production, promotion, possession, and dissemination of child pornography Disorderly conduct Illegal use of a minor in nudity-orientated material Open and gross lewdness Sexual abuse of children LEGAL CONSEQUENCES WWW.NORFOLKADVOCATESFORCHILDREN.COM

REAL LIFE EXAMPLES Who is charged? A.H. v. State, Florida Child pornography conviction Philip Alpert, Florida Felony charges sending child pornography State v. Canal, Iowa Obscenity conviction Yuri Wright Lost football scholarship due to racist and sexually graphic tweets WWW.NORFOLKADVOCATESFORCHILDREN.COM

POPULAR SITES APPS FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | SNAPCHAT | SECRET CALCULATOR Texting, email, social networking sites: FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | SNAPCHAT | SECRET CALCULATOR Please add the logos for Twitter and Ask.FM WWW.NORFOLKADVOCATESFORCHILDREN.COM

CYBER-BULLYING text, email, blogs, Facebook For this slide, please remove background images and instead include text from the MA 20120 Bullying Law: Cyber-bullying shall also include the distribution by electronic means of a communication to more than one person or the posting of material on an electronic medium that may be accessed by one or more persons, if the distribution or posting creates any of the conditions (i) causes physical or emotional harm to the victim or damage to the victim's property; (ii) places the victim in reasonable fear of harm to himself or of damage to his property; (iii) creates a hostile environment at school for the victim; (iv) infringes on the rights of the victim at school; or (v) materially and substantially disrupts the education process or the orderly operation of a school. WWW.NORFOLKADVOCATESFORCHILDREN.COM

REAL LIFE POSTS WWW.NORFOLKADVOCATESFORCHILDREN.COM

SEXTING AND TEEN DATING VIOLENCE 1/5 high school girls and 1/13 high school boys experience teen dating violence before graduating from high school5,6 Dating and relationship abuse reported to begin as early as age 11, with sexual behavior viewed as normal7 Sexting falls into the new category of “digital abuse” and can be used to control someone in a relationship 5.) Silverman JG, Raj A, Mucci LA, Hathaway JE. Dating violence against adolescent girls and associated substance use, unhealthy weight control, sexual risk behavior, pregnancy, and suicidality. JAMA 2001;286:572--9. 6.) "Social and Environmental Contexts of Adolescent and Young Adult Male Perpetrators of Intimate Partner Violence: A Qualitative Study," Elizabeth Reed, ScD, Jay G. Silverman, PhD, Anita Raj, PhD, Emily F. Rothman, et al. American Journal of Men's Health, Volume 2 Number 3, September 2008 260-271 7.)Tween and Teen Dating Abuse Study, 2008, https://www.breakthecycle.org/sites/default/files/pdf/survey-lina-tweens-2008.pdf WWW.NORFOLKADVOCATESFORCHILDREN.COM

SEXTING AND TEEN DATING VIOLENCE One person may force or threaten a person with consequences if they do not send Explicit photos If a relationship ends, one person may spread the existing photos to other people to get back at the person who ended the relationship, or to blackmail the person who is trying to end the relationship WWW.NORFOLKADVOCATESFORCHILDREN.COM

WHAT PARENTS CAN DO For younger kids who do not yet know about sex, educate them that text messages should never contain pictures of people without their clothes on, kissing, or touching each other with private parts Talk to your teens about healthy relationships, specifically that pressure to send a naked photo or sexually suggestive message is not part of a healthy relationship and is disrespectful WWW.NORFOLKADVOCATESFORCHILDREN.COM

THINK BEFORE YOU POST PRIVACY SETTINGS PHOTOS/VIDEOS/INFO. WWW.NORFOLKADVOCATESFORCHILDREN.COM

ENCOURAGE KIDS TO THINK BEFORE YOU FORWARD When you receive a text, you do not know the context of what was going on when that picture was taken: -could the person have been pressured or forced to send the pic? -could the person have been intoxicated when they took this picture? -could the person in the pic not even have known that a photo was being taken? WWW.NORFOLKADVOCATESFORCHILDREN.COM

PARENTS AND CELL PHONE MONITORING Set up an expectation (and follow through!) that you will be regularly checking your child’s phone and screening all messages, texts, videos, pictures, etc. Talk to other parents and your kids to stay up to date with the latest apps and social media platforms—use these products yourself. Consider blocking photo/video capabilities or putting a limit on internet use on cell phone. Use a formal monitoring system (ex: my mobile watchdog) WWW.NORFOLKADVOCATESFORCHILDREN.COM

MEDIA IN THE BEDROOM Decrease in time teens’ spend sleeping More time online, less sleep, and more tired (Van den Bulck, 2004) Mobile phone use late at night associated with tiredness, up to a year later (Van den Bulck, 2007) Chronic lack of sleep associated with (Tarokh & Carskadon, 2008) Mood regulation problems, learning, and memory Poor school performance Risk taking, risky behaviors and decisions WWW.NORFOLKADVOCATESFORCHILDREN.COM

PREP YOUR KIDS IN HOW TO RESPOND TO SEXTS Stress your discomfort: “I’m way too uncomfortable doing that.” Emphasize feelings: “If you really cared for me, you wouldn’t ask me to do that.” Change the subject: “Um let’s do something else, ok?” Call them out: “Nope, not gonna do anything illegal just to excite you.” Try Humor! WWW.NORFOLKADVOCATESFORCHILDREN.COM

DEALING WITH SEXTING SCHOOL RESPONSE Create a detailed policy for responding to sexting incidents (whether they happen on or off school property) Provide prevention education programs to students about sexting and its consequences Utilize “teachable moments” when sexting incidents appear on the news or other media Report to administration and police Contact parents and students involved Contact the school resource officer and local police to investigate any photos/videos WWW.NORFOLKADVOCATESFORCHILDREN.COM

PLACES TO GET HELP www.athinline.com www.thatsnotcool.com www.Loveisrespect.org www.marccenter.webs.com www.eyesonbullying.org www.commonsensemedia.org www.netsmartz/sexting DOVE, local domestic violence agency www.dovema.org WWW.NORFOLKADVOCATESFORCHILDREN.COM