Childline campaign to educate on ‘sexting’

Childline is stepping up a campaign to educate teenagers and their parents about the dangers of “sexting” after a rise in the number of calls to the helpline about the issue.

The charity said sexting – the sending, receiving, or forwarding of sexually explicit messages, photographs or images – was the most-viewed topic on its website last year. Counsellors dealt with 2,634 calls on the issue.

The Zipit app designed to help teenagers refuse requests for sexual images of themselves has been updated to give young people a gallery of images they can send to deflect requests with humour.

Childline is also looking to educate adults about sexting after a survey last year showed almost half of Scottish parents were unaware it was illegal for a child to take nude selfies.