Child Exploitation Awareness Week: “Once it’s out there, it’s out there”: Advice to children about the dangers of sharing explicit images of themselves

‘Sexting’, ‘nudes’, ‘dick pics’. There’s lots of different terms children use when talking about sharing explicit images of themselves. The one constant is the damage they can cause to the individual concerned and the lack of control you have once you’ve pressed that share button. 

‘Sexting’, ‘nudes’, ‘dick pics’. There’s lots of different terms children use when talking about sharing explicit images of themselves. The one constant is the damage they can cause to the individual concerned and the lack of control you have once you’ve pressed that share button. 

We know children and young people are doing this and it’s often the result of young people’s natural curiosity about sex and their exploration of relationships.   

The law is designed to protect children and young people rather than criminalise them and Warwickshire Police will not prosecute under 18’s for this, instead we will help educate around the risks, help remove the image from circulation and signpost to support.   

We will only consider prosecution where it’s in the public interest such as where a child has been bullied, blackmailed or forced in to sending explicit images of themselves. 

When it comes to children sharing such images of themselves, we have three main pieces of advice, as Detective Sergeant Dave Moorman from our Online Child Exploitation Team explains.  

“Firstly, under no circumstances, share explicit images of yourself. Once it’s out there, it’s out there and it can be shared with others. 

“Secondly, if you do send such an image to someone tell a trusted adult such as a teacher, a parent, or contact the police as soon as possible. I can’t emphasise this enough, you will not get into trouble, and we can put measures in place to help stop the spread of the image.  

“Finally, if you receive such an image or are aware of such images being shared, do the right thing; tell a teacher or call the police on 101.  Resharing the image is a criminal offence, and a criminal record could affect your future.” 

Operation Guarding is the force’s initiative to tackle the issue of children sending explicit images of themselves and educate children on the dangers of sharing these images.  

“If you have a child, please speak to them about this and urge them never to share explicit images of themselves.  You might think your child would never do such a thing and while some children may send images of themselves consensually, others may be forced, tricked or coerced. The important thing is to act quickly so we can take action to prevent the images being spread more widely.” 

For more information on talking to your child about the risks of sharing explicit images - Talking to your child about the risks of sharing nudes | NSPCC  

Report Remove is an initiative run by the Internet Warch Foundation (IWF). The IWF is an organisation dedicated to removing nude images of under 18s from the internet. For more information on the service they offer - Report Remove | Childline