A recent study found that one out of seven young people in America have sent a “sext” – a text message that includes fully nude or semi-nude photos.
And reports reveal that the problem has become worse since the COVID-19 pandemic.
But a safety app called Canopy is working to keep children safer online.
Canopy blocks 99 percent of pornography online and can prevent sexting by detecting an inappropriate text before it is sent.
The issue is linked to the mental health crisis in many teens.
“Most teens who send inappropriate text messages or sexts, have anxiety,” Matt Gore, Director of Engagement at Canopy, told CBN’s The Prayerlink. “Many even have depression.”
Gore stressed that it is important for parents to have conversations with their kids about this growing problem.
“We have to understand that most of the teenagers’ social life now happens online,” Gore explained. “If you want to be an engaged parent, you have to be engaged with their digital lives and not just with their real lives.”
Gore went on to say, “One study showed that two-thirds of 12- to 18-year-old girls had been asked for a nude image online. Two-thirds -that’s amazing.”
“So, parents need to understand that their kids, even good kids, are going to run into temptations online that they really need to be trained and have conversations with their parents about how to address,” said Gore.
For information on how to keep kids safe online, log onto canopy.us.
The remainder of this article is available in its entirety at CBN