Technology brings with it advancements, innovations, and possibilities. For teenagers, it can also bring risks and dangers, as with the new trend of sexcasting. While you may have heard of sexting, the sending and receiving of sexually suggestive text messages and photos, sexcasting can be an even more dangerous way teens are using their cell phones, digital cameras, computers, and other technology tools. It is the sending and receiving of digital videos that are sexually suggestive or explicit, and they can be in either real-time or saved digital file formats.

1.  How Are Teens Sexcasting?

Sexcasting isn’t just something where a small portion of adults in the pornography industry transmit digital files. Teens are making and sharing sexually charged videos with classmates, friends, and even strangers online. Sexcasting occurs in many ways, and parents can’t be too quick to dismiss the ease with which it is done, and the ignorance of the consequences that teens have about it.

• Most cell phones have video-making technology. Teens have been known to record classmates in locker rooms and friends at parties in suggestive scenes.
• Digital cameras are inexpensive and portable, turning any occasion into a possible video.
• Technologies such as iPods allow teens to record themselves and others and almost instantly load these files onto the Internet.
• Webcams on laptops and home computers can stream live video or record and save digital videos.

2.  Why Are Teens Sexcasting?

Sexcasting is not a behavior limited to teens who are known to engage in dangerous behaviors, do poorly in school, or who have struggling home lives. All teenagers are faced with the challenges of changing hormones, body images, and social peers that make it increasingly possible for them to experiment with sexcasting.

• Studies show that 66% of girls and 60% of boys send sexually explicit content for what they feel is the fun of it or to be flirtatious.
• More than 50% of girls have sent sexually explicit material as presents for their boyfriends.
• Teens record and send things like flirtatious dances, videos of making out with others, and more.
• Some teens are secretly recording people in compromising positions as a way to bully, tease, or pressure.
• Many teens report they are sexcasting for the thrill of it, because of peer pressure, as well as the mistaken belief that it would be a private video. There is no such thing as private in the cyber world.

3.  What Are The Dangers of Sexcasting for Teens?

Teens are often not equipped with the facts or the maturity to understand and use technology safely and respectfully. Sexcasting puts them in a world with infinite risks and dangers.

• Sexcasting can have legal consequences. It is illegal for anyone under the age of 18 to be in a sexually explicit video. Teens who record, send, and receive these, as well as their parents, can be held criminally liable. This includes the possibility of having to register as a sex offender.
• Sexual predators can find these videos online and use them for their own gratification. There is also the risk that they will be able to identify your child and stalk, either online or in person, and perhaps bring them further harm.
• Sexcasting videos, even when teens think they are for flirty or for private use, can spread globally. Social media sites and child pornography sites can repost and stream these videos for anyone to see, indefinitely.

4.  How Do I Talk with My Teen About Sexcasting?

Technology has made sexcasting easy for teens to do, but parents don’t always find it easy to talk about it with their children. There are several things parents need to remember when communicating with their kids about this topic.

• Keep an open line of communication where you ask questions and listen with an open mind, being non-judgmental and focusing on building a stronger relationship.
• Make sure your children know about the legal consequences they can face and how those can impact their lives forever.
• Talk about the emotional price tags of sexcasting. Those videos and scenes might be forever available to future boyfriends and girlfriends, spouses, employers, children, and grandchildren.
• Know how your child uses technology. If your child has access to a webcam, make sure you have security controls in place for broadcasting.
• Keep technology devices out of bedrooms and in central locations of the home where your watchful eye can see what your child is doing.

Even though it might be more comfortable to believe your child would never participate in sexcasting, the reality is that teens today are constantly inundated with these opportunities and risks. Removing all technology is not very realistic, but educating yourself and your teen is the first proactive step you can take in making sure that your children are safe from this growing and risky trend.

20081106-40D-2544-b by Dan Foy Attribution-NoDerivs License

AUTHOR OVERVIEW

Lisa Shaw Senior Director, Child Online Safety and Protection at SpectorSoft

What do five kids ranging in age from kindergarten to high school, a Harvard MBA and years of protecting kids online get you? It gets you Lisa Shaw, COO of her very busy household, and a Senior Director at SpectorSoft, the number one leader in monitoring and protecting your kids online. She's an expert on the technology and trends that you need to arm yourself with to be the best parent you can be in today’s digital world.

Tags: parenting advice, sexcasting