Parents urged to speak to their children about explicit image sharing this Safer Internet Day

We are urging parents to speak to their children about the potential consequences of image sharing this Safer Internet Day (Tuesday) amidst a rise in teenagers in the county sharing explicit images of themselves.

Children are increasingly using phones and tablets to create photos and videos of themselves and sharing them online, or with other people via messaging or social media apps.

Specialist detectives from the force have said that sharing images can be risky, particularly if a semi-nude or nude image or video is shared with another person – even if it is someone they trust - which is often known as ‘sexting.’

Although they may have consented to sending these images of themselves, there are situations where individuals can also be forced, tricked or coerced into sharing nude images by other people online; whether they are the same age or older.

However, once an image has been shared with someone, the sender no longer has any control over where it will end up, who else it will be shared with, or what other people may do with it.

Knowing that others have seen a nude image of themselves can cause a lot of stress and anxiety for that person and pictures circulated online could also affect any future educational and job opportunities.

There is also the added threat of so called ‘sextortion’ which is when someone threatens to share private information, explicit images or videos of someone by demanding either money or more images or videos, or other means of payment, such as performing sexual acts.

Detective Sergeant Ben Stone from Bedfordshire Police’s Internet Child Abuse Investigation Team said: “We want to urge parents and carers to use Safer Internet Day as an opportunity to strike up a conversation with their children and explain the possible consequences of sharing these types of images and videos online or with other people, and how it may affect them in the future.

“What a lot of teenagers don’t realise is that whilst ‘sexting’ may be very common, it could also be illegal. It is actually a criminal offence to create and share explicit images of someone under the age of 18, even if it is an image they have taken of themselves, as this will be classed as creating and distributing an indecent image of a child.

“However, in most cases if an incident such as this is reported to us, we will look to educate the teenagers involved, rather than criminalise them, depending on the circumstances.

“Our focus is on taking action against any perpetrators who share these images without consent once they have been sent them, or use such images for the purposes of abuse, blackmail or exploitation.

“I cannot encourage victims of such behaviour enough to come forward and report it so we can help them and prevent this kind of unacceptable behaviour from continuing.

“As we are seeing a rise in these types of issues, it is important to encourage your children to talk to you about how they use the internet and show you what they do - make sure they know the risks of sharing images and that they can come to you for advice.”

For more information and advice on keeping teenagers safe online, and how to remove content online, you can visit the Its Not Okay website.  

To report any concerns around online criminality, such as grooming or online sexual abuse, please report it to us via the online reporting centre or by calling on 101.