Children’s Sexting, Internet Safety, Among Rising Worries Of Parents

Parents are increasingly worried about the negative effects of technology – sexting, in particular – and its effects on their children’s health, according to a national poll. “Parents are seeing [sexting] happen more with their kids or kids’ friends,” said Dr. Brian Keyes, a child, adolescent and adult psychiatrist who sees patients through various non-profits including the Children’s Center in Hamden and NAFI Connecticut in Hartford. “Parents get concerned, and rightly so, as kids start to get involved in any sexually related material.”

Sexting – sending sexually explicit text, photo or video messages via mobile phone or other electronic devices – also is gaining more attention in the media, bringing it to the forefront of parents’ minds, said Keyes, who also is on the clinical faculty at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine and the Yale Child Study Center. In the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health, adults ranked sexting as the sixth health concern facing children. Forty-five percent of adults listed sexting as a top concern, the poll released in August reported.