Please find below useful guide produced by Police Scotland Cyber Harm Prevention Department. Any concerns regarding this or any other issues, please contact your local Campus Officer.
Sexting Online Mobile Safety 3157 PM 18
Online and mobile safety
‘Feel pressured to share a private picture of yourself ‘ ??.
Nobody should feel pressured into doing things they don’t want to do. Sex and sexual activity of any kind is a private act people engage in.
It’s not something that is owned or owed – even if you are in a relationship or have done sexual things with that person before.
Sexting
When people talk about sexting, they usually mean sending or receiving:
- Naked pictures
- Underwear shots
- Sexual or dirty pics
- Rude text messages or videos.
These are usually sent on messaging apps or emails to or from a friend, boyfriend, girlfriend or someone you’ve met online, in some cases someone online you don’t know and have never met before.
Sexting can happen for lots of reasons
- Everyone SAYS they’re doing it’
- Seen as ‘not sexy’
- Feel under pressure to sext to prove yourself to others
- Bullied or intimidated with persistent texts, taunts
- Threatened or blackmailed into sending pictures
- Want approval from a group of friends
- You in love with the person and trust them completely.
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What you need to know about sexting:
- Once you’ve sent an image or video you can’t control what happens to it
- Don’t let anyone guilt or pressure you into sending anything personal
- If you’ve sent a nude pic, have a conversation with the person you sent it to Ask them to delete it
- If an indecent or nude pic of you is posted online, you can contact the website directly or make a report online to try and get it removed
- Try not to panic – It’s not your fault.
Sometimes people send intimate photos of themselves because they have been made to feel guilty or they have been deceived or fooled with a sexual or financial motive.
Once one image is sent threats can then be made for you to provide other sexual images of a more intimate nature.
When sexting goes wrong, it can make you feel ashamed, guilty, embarrassed, anxious and isolated. But there are things you can do to prevent it from getting worse and allow you to take control again.
If anybody has been making you feel uncomfortable by asking you to send intimate images or to get naked online, you can report them to the Police or you could tell a trusted friend, your mum, dad, carer or a school teacher . It is wrong for anyone to be pressuring you in this way. It can make you feel like you’re trapped.
We will not judge you as we understand how easily sexting can happen and how quickly things can go wrong – You didn’t mean for this to happen, You didn’t mean for this to go so wrong.
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Steps to take
- First of all – are you safe
- Do you need support?
- Find the best person to support you right now…trusted friends, your family or school?
- Be honest about what has happened. People are only able to help you when they have all the facts
- Telling your parents may be your worst nightmare, but how are they going to help you if they don’t know?
- Don’t wait. The quicker you deal with it the more control you have.
The sooner you talk to somebody about the situation the better. This could be a trusted friend, your mum, dad, carer or a school teacher. But talk to someone, don’t suffer in silence, you have people round you who will support you.
If you felt strong enough you could try having a conversation with the person you sent the image to and ask them to delete it. The quicker you’re able to do this the better.
If you are in school, your school will have ways of dealing with these sorts of problems so speak to your Guidance teacher and take a trusted friend with you for support.
We encourage good digital citizenship and encourage use of mobile technology. We want all users to be personally aware of their actions and to better understand the risks they are open to when conducting their lives ‘On line’.
Please consider the links below for additional support.
https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/14_plus/
https://www.ceop.police.uk/safety-centre/
https://parentzone.org.uk/parent-info
