Three-quarters of girls who have sent explicit images to boys on their mobiles say the pictures were shared without their consent, a shock survey has found. The NSPCC warned yesterday that growing numbers of girls become distraught or even suicidal after regretting giving in to pressure to send explicit photos and videos of themselves. The practice known as sexting leaves many humiliated after the images are passed on to others in their school or even put up on social networking websites. The children’s charity said, however, that many girls see sexting as a normal part of growing up and are happy to perform on video and send the images to a boy. Two-thirds have no idea that sharing images of under-18s is technically illegal and that teenagers can be locked up for engaging in sexting. They need to understand that there could be serious consequences. Images put online may stay there forever and be seen by vast numbers of people
Pray: for our young people to have a greater appreciation of the issues involved in sexting and the wisdom and confidence to refuse to become involved. (Ps.41:9)