After watching MTV's "When Privates Go Public", I was reminded of my own high school career. I didn't have the technology that is currently available, but I saw myself in the students that were featured. The girl was naive and thought her boyfriend would never betray her trust. I was reminded how my trust was betrayed by my first love. The second student was frustrated and did something without thinking. I was reminded that I am really glad that there isn't documentation of things I did without thinking when I was a teen. As I listened to their stories, I was touched not by their story as much as how easy it is happening to youth who you would never expect.

The two stories featured were a young girl who sent a topless picture of herself and a boy who forwarded a picture of his girlfriend from his cell phone. She ended up having her picture sent to everyone in not only her school, but other schools as well. He was convicted as a sex offender and is facing those consequences (including not being able to get a job or even live with his father because of the proximity to a school). Neither person was anyone I would think would even think of doing anything like this. Both described that 'they didn't think' anything bad would happen and certainly would never have done it had they thought about consequences. I could see myself in both of these young people.

The entire episode is available online. I re-encourage you to watch it with young people in your life. It is an important topic that might lead to helping them think about consequences.

Once you watch it, post your thoughts about the documentary in the comments. Do you see yourself, or your kids, in those featured?

We've been told that 3 in 10 teens have been involved in some type of naked texting. Of those, one in five report that they have passed the images along to someone else. Since these young people are primarily defined as minors, this makes a hot story for all kinds of venues.

In the last few months the topic of sexting seems like it is everywhere. We talk about it here on SafetyClicks a lot, but the same concerns we discuss are in the main stream as well. A recent episode of The Deep End, a new ABC show about a law firm, one of the clients was a teen facing charges distribution of child pornography for a picture taken of his girlfriend. The teen being charged with child pornography for sending a nude picture of their girl/boyfriend is not all that uncommon since the laws are not prepared for this kind of behavior.

If you want to watch the episode of 'The Deep End', you can watch the full episode online. On the show everything works out thanks to the savvy lawyers - do you think you would have the same luck?

What do you think about the topic of sexting showing up so much in pop culture?

I love the Internet. I really do. It allows me to communicate with my friends and family around the world. It lets me instantly share pictures and videos of my daughter with her grand parents. It is also pretty great that the Internet provides me with a career. Even though I think the Internet is a great place, I am not foolish enough to think it is 100% perfect.

How to keep our families safe while using technology is just one of the challenges . Enough.org has some shocking statistics on their web site. This is just a small sampling:

- Every second, $3,075.64 is spent on pornography
- 79% of youth unwanted exposure to pornography occurs in the home
- Child pornography has become a $3 billion annual industry
- 20 percent of teens have engaged in cyberbullying behaviors, including posting mean or hurtful information or embarrassing pictures, spreading rumors, publicizing private communications, sending anonymous e-mails or cyberpranking someone.
- 14 percent 7th-9th grade students reported that they had communicated with someone online about sexual things
- 30 percent of teenage girls polled by the Girl Scout Research Institute said they had been sexually harassed in a chat room. Only 7 percent, however, told their mothers or fathers about the harassment because they were worried that their parents would ban them from going online"

Enough Is Enough has developed a program called Internet Safety 101. Holly Hawkins, the Director of Consumer Policy & Child Safety (and one of our very own bloggers ) calls the program "a truly unique teaching series designed to bring Internet safety education into the busy lives of parents and other caregivers." She has witnessed how this program has really empowered parents and teachers regarding online safety.

I am not sure it is ever going to be possible to make the Internet 100% safe for all members of the family - but I do think that through education and empowerment, we can make it a safer place for everyone.

"Kids will be kids."

"That's outrageous!"

"My child wouldn't do that"

These are things people say about the youth in America. The first is what people say when someone takes something small and makes a huge deal about it. The second is what people say when they hear of a teen doing something that they never thought would happen. The third is what parents might say when they are asked if their teen has ever done anything they wouldn't approve of.

We've been writing about Sexting for a while. As an attempt to stop it, some have been very heavy handed with penalties for sexting including being charged for trading child pornography. Some don't see it as that big of a deal.

As a part of MTV's 'A Thin Line' campaign to stop digital abuse, they are showing a documentary called "Sexting in America: When Privates Go Public". In their research, they site that 3 out of 10 young people have either sent or received nude "sext" messages and only 51% of them believe that their digital actions could come back to haunt them later.

It is being aired on MTV this Sunday. When I checked my local listings it is being shown again a few more times this week. I think it would be a great thing to watch the young people in your life. Do you think you will watch this?

Hope Witsell was a seemingly average seventh grader. According to the St. Petersburg Times, she was a good student , loved the 'Twilight' series, and was vying for a boy's attention.

At the end of the school year, she sent a nude picture of herself to a boy she liked. Sadly, it found its way around not only her school, but another as well. The school officials found out and her parents found out. Her school suspended her for the first week of the following school year, and her parents grounded her for the summer. But the worst punishment came in the form of continued tormenting from other students. Eventually, she felt the only option was to end her life.

This kind of story is tragic, but can also serve as a conversation starter between teens and parents. Just asking teens what they think about the story and unintended consequences can be a good way to open the dialog on what might be a difficult discussion to have with teens.

How have you started conversations about sexting?

This article by Intelihealth gives some basic statistics about teens and texting:

* Nearly 80% of teenagers own cell phones, up 36% from 2005.
* The average age for getting a first cell phone is between 10 and 11; about 50% of kids 8 to 12 years old have one.
* Teens with cell phones average 2,272 texts per month (that works out to 75 per day), and only 203 calls.
* More than 40% say they can text blindfolded.

Advantages to teen texting:
- Most carriers have a relatively inexpensive "unlimited texting" plan.
- You don't have to listen to the squealing of "Oh My God!" Instead teens can quietly text "OMG!"
- Texting can be more convenient because the recipient doesn't have to be available to answer right away (i.e., "Mom, I'll be home at 4:00.")

Downsides of teens texting:
- There is a whole new language to be learned that might be hard for parents to pick up.
- While talking on the phone at dinner isn't as much of an issue, texting has replaced this habit.
- Texting sexually suggestive or hateful messages might seem "safer" than other avenues because there is no face or voice. (even though they can be forwarded)
- Texting while driving is very unsafe (even if you can text blindfolded) and illegal in most states.

Like anything else, there is a time and a place for texting. I got a cell phone with a keyboard so I could take advantage of the benefits without having to memorize which numbers have which letters on the phone. I have found it to be very convenient for quick communication to friends and family with non-timely messages. As long as there is a level of etiquette with texting, I think it is a great form of communication.

What do you think about texting? Do you love it? Hate it? Don't get it? Wonder how to get rid of it?

Part of growing up in America is testing out different looks, different personas and styles. Everyone goes through an "awkward" phase (at least one) when trying to find your own sense of fashion, personality and really defining what you want to portray to the world.

The online world is one place that teens can experiment with who they are with a small sense of anonymity. While participating in sports communities, you can be the rough and tough sports enthusiast. While on the technology sites, you can embrace your inner techno-geek. Keeping in touch with friends on the popular social networking sites is easy to be the easy-going, carefree person you know you are. The photo you post as your avatar/profile picture can show off any style you can imagine.

Your online persona isn't a private dressing room though – it is public. This can be great, but it can also be detrimental.

We know that 20% of teens say they have been solicited online. A new study shows that the more provocative the online persona, the higher the chance of being solicited. This makes perfect sense. Sexy images (even those that are animated) or using sensual language sends a message that you are looking for a sexual relationship.

While you can use profiles and the Internet to try out new personality traits, make sure they are traits you actually want to portray. Remind yourself of the tips to keeping safe online and think about how people who don't know you might see you.

In March of this year, a 14-year-old girl was charged with child pornography. This was not the only story; there were others, all with similar charges. Some teens were even forced to register as sex offenders for posting or sending nude pictures of themselves.

More recently, an Ohio judge sentenced a local teen for the same charges as the teens previously mentioned. The kicker? The punishment was writing a paper detailing the dangers of sexting.

Talking to your children about sex raises the anxiety level for many parents. Now add on how they are expressing themselves sexually online. Many parents say "my child wouldn't do that." The challenge is that according to a study done by The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, 20% of teens admit that they are. One way to look at it is that 80% of teens are not sexting. Since there is no easy way to tell which teen falls into the 20% bucket vs. the 80% bucket, here are some tips on broaching the topic:

• Know that "sexting" is a term that the media has placed on the act of sending sexually explicit texts and photos via cell phones or online. Because it's been in the media so much, teens probably know what it means, but it probably isn't (or at least wasn't) the word they use. This might be a good way to bring it up with your teen. Ask him/her what students in their class call it. I have heard terms such as "hooking up", "phone sex", "booty call". Some don't have a name for it at all; they just know it when they see it.

• Use articles or news stories to spark the conversation. In recent months, there have been many articles about teens who were arrested for sexting. Ask your teen his/her opinion about if it is actually child pornography? What should the punishment be? Should it even be a crime?

Some of you may wonder what it means to be "digitally responsible," and if it is really much different from parental responsibility as we know it. Raising responsible and well-behaved children in the real world is often similar to raising responsible and well-behaved children in the digital world. However, the difference in the digital world is that the potential for anonymity makes matters worse for tweens and teens in the digital world, and many kids these days are probably more Internet savvy than a lot of moms and dads out there. We didn't grow up with this technology that seems so natural to them – experts often refer to this generation of kids and teens as "digital natives" and their parents as "digital immigrants". Is that something to worry about? Not really, as there are a plethora of resources that parents can dig into to get updated on the latest trends that our children are faced with - Social Networking, Cyberbullying, and Sexting to name a few. There are many places on the Web that provide great information for parents to stay plugged-in to the latest online trends. This blog, SafetyClicks.com, is a great source for parents looking to learn more about what's going on with kids on the Internet, and arm themselves with the knowledge they need to strike the right chord with their kids when discussing online behavior.

While parents, law makers and law enforcers decide how to punish the offenders of sexting, teachers in a Milwaukee town spent the last day of school teaching an important lesson before summer break. They sparked a debate with students regarding all aspects of the topic of sexting. Several of the students admitted to sending nude pictures of themselves and at least one was the victim of that picture being sent to others. The debate continued with who should be punished, for what and what the punishment should be.

This sounds like a far better use of time compared to my last day of school every year -- usually spent watching the clock.

Every day I get a dozen or so articles that talk about someone who was charged or convicted for possession or distribution of child pornography. Reading these articles gives me hope that these people are being punished for their crimes. It also sheds a sad light on how big the problem is.

Thankfully we have laws that promote public awareness regarding the location of these people when, and if, the convicted are let out of jail. Generally the offenders are labeled as sex offenders. Each state has different versions of this law, but New York 's is called Sex Offender Registration Act (SORA). It dictates that while on the sex offender list, the offender cannot live within a certain proximity to schools or other places children assemble (a.k.a., most good neighborhoods), they are not eligible for many jobs, and they are to register with the state every time they move or get a new job. The information they give the state is public and is posted on this watch dog site, www.familywatchdog.com. This site gives the public an easy to use tool to find out where sex offenders are on a map.

Why am I talking about this?

The risks of the Internet don't stop when the computer is turned off. With more and more devices available that connect to the Internet, there are ever increasing opportunities for kids and teens to be put at risk online. The challenge for parents is that the risk isn't always from a "stranger" on the other side.

A new word on the scene is "sexting", which is a combination of "texting" and "sex". It is similar to "cyber sex" through Instant Messages, where two parties are having a sexually charged conversation, but "sexting" is done via text messages through the cell phone. The conversations can even include sending sexually explicit images taken by the cell phone and sent to the other party.