It’s an activity that young people (and adults!) are engaging in at quite a rate.Young people are used to sharing and documenting their lives online. It’s very easy to hit the ‘send’ button before actually pausing to think about the consequences.
Why do young people sext?
There are many reasons why a young person may want to send a naked or semi-naked picture, video or message to someone else.
- joining in because they think that ‘everyone is doing it’
- boosting their self-esteem
- flirting with others and testing their sexual identity
- exploring their sexual feelings
- to get attention and connect with new people on social media
- they may find it difficult to say no if somebody asks them for an explicit image, especially if the person asking is persistent