Safe "sexting?" No such thing, teens warned

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-05-05 10:45

In the United States, a survey last fall found one in five teenagers said they had sent or posted online nude or semi-nude pictures of themselves and 39 percent said they had sent or posted sexually suggestive messages, according to the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy.

Teenage actress Vanessa Hudgens, star of the successful "High School Musical" franchise, last year had to live down the scandal of her semi-nude pictures, meant for boyfriend Zac Ephron, ending up online.

Several prosecutions have been undertaken or threatened in the United States and one girl, Jessica Logan, 18, from Cincinnati, committed suicide after being taunted when a nude photo of herself sent via text was circulated at her school.

The NSW government has produced a fact sheet for schools, parents and youngsters to warn about the possible lifetime consequences of sexting while Burney was hitting the airwaves to publicize the campaign: "Safe Sexting, No Such Thing."

Burney is also urging parents to talk to children about the issue and to check their social networking websites such as MySpace and Facebook for any inappropriate images.

"More and more parents are telling me how worried they are about their children making a silly mistake that can affect them for the rest of their lives," said Burney.

"Reports from concerned adults are becoming more frequent... a dangerous consequence is the risk of public humiliation, harassment or even sexual assault."

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