Sexting: A new, digital vehicle for intimate partner aggression?

Choose a Girl

Cyberbullying is the use of the Internet, cell phones, or other technology to spread hurtful or embarrassing pictures and messages about another person. Couples who are in long-distance relationships or want to make the most of their time away from their partner indulge in sexting to feel the physical proximity that they lack otherwise. It is a great way for couples to bond and feel a connection, even being physically apart. Once you click “send” online or on a phone, the image, text or video you sent may be nearly impossible to get back. Once digital, content can also be replicated and posted many times over, in many different places.

• If your partner has been sexting, it may affect your self-confidence, self-worth, and self-esteem, too.
• The last thing you want is your pics accidentally getting saved—or worse, uploaded to the “family photos” folder on your computer.
• No matter your partner’s reasoning for sexting, however, you’re under no obligation to tolerate it, or to stay in the relationship.
• We have access to every imaginable way to take pictures, store them, upload them, share them and comment on them.
• It utilizes machine learning technology to understand, learn, and pick up a user’s likes and dislikes; with each interaction, the responses generated keep improving.

Crimes Against Children Research Center

Parents should discuss the issue with their children to ensure they understand the risks and what to do if or when they’re exposed to or participate in sexting. Former Democratic Congressman Anthony Weiner was caught sexting naughty photos, which caused his resignation. Nothing you do to ensure safe sexting will be truly secure if the recipient of your naked pictures cannot be bothered to set up a passcode to lock their phone.

Tips to avoid the unwanted consequences of sexting

We also need to explain (and model) what true fulfillment looks like. Remember, it’s NEVER okay to share or post someone else’s private photos or texts, even if you’re in a fight or don’t like them. This is a cruel form of bullying and sexual harassment, and it can really hurt people. And finally, you can always adjust the level of explicitness, at least to start. Dirty talk doesn’t have to be X-rated to be sexy, and sometimes playing coy is actually more fun. For example, you could say, “Wait until you see what I’ve got on underneath my work clothes,” and leave it at that.

Anthony Weiner sexting scandals

• If you ever receive a sexual image of someone else, tell a trusted adult — and never share it with friends.
• And, of course, GIFs and emoji are easy options if words just can’t express what you want to get across.
• Signing up is easy and requires you to answer four questions about your sexting preferences.
• Paint a captivating picture with your words, focusing on sensory details, such as touch, taste, and scent.
• Before you start snapping nudes, Akins says you need to make sure the other person is comfortable receiving your sexts in the first place.

The unwanted forwarding of images to a third party is especially relevant in this respect. In contrast to media reports about sexting as a risk behavior with serious consequences, there is little empirical analysis about the actual sexting practice of adolescents and adults in Germany. One of the major consequences of sexting that most tweens and teens don’t consider is having their messages and photos shared with someone besides the intended recipient. There are many stories of girls who turn to self-harm and suicide after their reputations were destroyed by boys sharing their sexts with others, like this one of a 13-year-old girl in 7th grade.

While to them sexting might feel like an innocent activity if it is done with mutual consent, teens should understand that problems can still happen. Messages, pictures, or videos sent via digital devices are never truly private or anonymous. Sexting (or “sex texting”) is sending or getting sexually explicit or suggestive images, messages, or video on a smartphone, computer, tablet, or other device. If you have a phone issued to you from your work then you might want to consider having a separate phone for sexting, unless you’re cool with Phyllis from IT reading your lovely smut. If you have kids and toss them your phone to play a game when they are having an epic meltdown at the grocery store you might want to make sure your dirty texts are deleted or use an app like KIK or WhatsApp that you can hide within your phone. You might even want an electronic device that is just for your kids, that way your mind can be at ease.