A survey of parents launched today by the NSPCC finds that just 2 in 5 parents have spoken to their child about sexting.
Only 42% parents have discussed sexting with children at least once, while nearly 3 in 5 have not discussed it at all, despite 73% believing it is “always” harmful.
The findings come as the NSPCC revealed that in the last year the number of children counselled by Childline about sexting has increased by 15% to almost 1,400.
As NSPCC chief executive, Peter Wanless, said:
“It’s vital that parents talk to their children and that young people feel empowered to say no to sexting requests.”
Need for more information
The survey finds that half of parents did not know it was illegal for children to share naked or sexual pictures of themselves.
83% of parents have never received information about sexting and 84% of parents have never looked for it. Despite this, 50% want to learn more about sexting and the most popular ways to do so are through their children’s school and online resources.
In light of this research, the NSPCC are calling on parents and carers to #TalkAboutSexting and have provided some advice to help.
Advice from the UK Safer Internet Centre:
