With recent studies like this one that found 20% of teens have posted or sent nude or semi-nude pictures of themselves, it’s obvious that sexting is no longer just a fringe occurance.

For those that haven’t heard, sexting is the new term for personal cell phone pornography. Several court cases illustrate how more and more teens are sending nude pictures of themselves to a their boyfriend or girlfriend, only to find that their image has spread like wildfire all over their school and town. Many of them find themselves facing jail time on pornography charges.

Considering how prevelant it is, many teens must still consider this as acceptable behavior. Either the potentially severe consequences, such as criminal charges and extreme embarrasment, are not enough to keep them from doing it, or they just don’t know the consequences!

As one youth pastor reports, this problem is already leaking into youth group meetings, so it’s one we can’t ignore much longer. The study I mentioned earlier has some great tips on how to address it along with videos of teens discussing the issue.

For discussion: Has this issue sexting impacted your group? How did you respond? Have you had a frank discussion with your students about sexting?

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