If you think young people aren’t sexting one another, you’ll be surprised to learn that 1 in 4 teens have seen someone targeted by AI-generated nudes. The 2024 study “How Risky is Online sexting by Minors?” of nearly 3,000 respondents aged 18-28 found that 23% had engaged in sexting as minors. And the numbers keep growing.  In 2024, Governor Maura T. Healy signed into law An Act to prevent abuse and exploitation, which created educational programs for Massachusetts schools and diversion programs that require students who have perpetrated sexual harm to learn the negative impacts of their actions. 

Sexting Repercussions 

Being pressured to sext or getting unwanted sexts has numerous potential repercussions. Per a study, it can lead to more depression, anxiety, stress, and lower self-esteem. Sexting can also be linked to other risky behaviors and health problems for youth. That’s why it’s important to find ways to step in and stop this growing problem.  The severe impact of sexting demands that we identify ways to intervene and prevent this growing trend among young people.

Many other states still use a broad-brush approach to anyone—adult, adolescent or child—who sends a nude photo, with or without consent. Massachusetts is taking a different approach to accountability for adolescents and children who may take a photo, create an AI image, or send an explicit image to a peer.  We are offering them a chance to be held responsible and learn about the impact of what they have done. 

Change Takes Time

With youth sexting as young as 10, finding new ways to address these behaviors is critical to creating a safer childhood, and when this does occur, better outcomes for everyone.   

Boston Public Schools has already implemented class instruction designed to interrupt harmful behavior, support accountability, and promote healthy decision-making among students. Their Sexual Health Education curriculum for middle and high school students includes lessons that introduce conversations around boundaries, consent, using technology responsibly, cyberbullying prevention and internet safety.

Even though it has been a year since Massachusett’s legislation was passed, it takes time to develop and distribute the needed education programs and time to develop effective diversion programs for youth.  What can we do now?  

The good news is that there is even more that parents, community members and youth can do to prevent and address this growing issue, especially as the negative repercussions for the survivors are long-term.

Take Action

Caregivers can up their game and be curious! Ask your kids open-ended questions about what they are exploring, their own behaviors, who they are meeting online, what they are seeing, and what they are learning.  Hold back judgement or criticism. Bringing up these topics shows them that you are curious and that you have important values to share, which helps to establish you as one of those “askable” adults. Discuss their responsibility to others as a safe person, and how they can respect the boundaries of others. 

Tell your kids about free resources they can easily access by phone or digital device. Developed by the Massachusetts-based nonprofit Stop It Now, WhatsOK.org is a new website and helpline service developed for youth to help answer questions they may have about concerning relationships and sexual behaviors, but are afraid to ask an adult in their life. Grounded in research, What’s OK? is developmentally appropriate (ages 14-21) and offers answers to and resources for questions, such as “Am I watching too much pornography?” or “How will I know when my boundaries are crossed?”  

Since the launch in 2021, thousands of youth have contacted WhatsOK and visited the website from nearly every state in the USA and 74 countries. Sixty-six percent of these contacts are from youth who had been sexually abused or were at risk of causing harm. WhatsOK is a safe and easy step for youth to take to keep themselves and their community safe.  

Finally, learn how to get a nude taken down if your child has shared a photo of themselves and it is being shared by others. The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children has a new free service called Take It Down that helps you remove or stop the online sharing of the explicit image or video of a minor.

About Jenny Coleman

Jenny Coleman, MA, LMHC has been working in child welfare for 30 years as a clinician, educator and advocate. Her background has been steeped in community and relationship based approaches, grounded on non-violence and trauma-informed models. In 2011, she joined Stop It Now! as their Helpline Director, and now serves as their director, overseeing its national child sexual abuse prevention program.