OPP warns teens about dangers of ‘sexting’

Once it’s out there, you can’t get it back.
That’s the message the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) is putting out to teens across the province.
“A mistaken belief that their texted messages and images shared among peers will remain private and secure puts them in real danger of becoming victims of their own words and actions,” says inspector Scott Naylor, Manager of the OPP Child Sexual Exploitation Unit.

Naylor explains teens frequently engage in relationships with peers through the use of their mobile devices and computers that lead to “self-peer exploitation” (also known as sexting).
“As a result of misbelieving that they can remain anonymous, they often also engage in this type of behaviour with individuals whom they don’t know but have only ever met online.

“Teens need to become aware that this kind of risky activity has very real dangers associated with it that includes many unintended consequences and permanent long term threats to their identity and their reputations.

“Every day, thousands of teens are photographing and videotaping themselves in suggestive and compromising photos and sending the images through electronic devices to their peers.  Quite often, this type of conduct can quickly become a dangerous game as those images never stay with the one intended to receive it.  Instead they are frequently mindlessly passed along by the recipient to friends, who pass it on to other friends who continue this cycle of distribution while some post them to social networking sites, and download them onto the internet.

“The resulting shame and embarrassment that is experienced by the teen that is now a victim of their own actions as a result of their realization of what has occurred can have very tragic results.”

Naylor says officers are increasingly seeing more teens unable to cope with the self-inflicted personal shame and embarrassment that they have unknowingly created from what they had previously believed to be “harmless fun”.

“There is also a real criminal risk for those individuals who receive these images and re-distributes them,” says Naylor. “Often unknowingly, by sending the images to others and posting them, these individuals are engaging in the distribution of child pornography and could face the Criminal charges.”

Parents, guardians and educators should discuss the significance of the problem with their teens and monitor their social media activities.

“Self-peer exploitation has become a big social issue that no one has been adequately prepared to manage,” said Naylor. “Those with a vested interest in the protection of children need to get involved and learn how to protect them from permanently damaging their lives. Understand what self-peer exploitation is, and find out what to do about it. There are ways to intervene.”

LEARN MORE
Canadians Sources to Prevent Child Victimization: Canadian Centre for Child Protection
Intervention and Prevention Programs:  Cybertip.ca
OPP Internet Safety Resources:   Internet Safety for Teens & Parents
Video (English) “Think before You Send”:  Think Before You Send – Cybertips.ca
Vidéo (French)  “Pense-y avant”:     Pense-y avant