Sexting is 'increasingly the norm' among teenagers

An incident is reported at least once a day

Some teenagers have said they felt coerced into sexting (Mireya Acierto/Getty Images)

Sexting “increasingly feels like the norm” among teenagers, an expert has warned.

The term is used to describe sending and or receiving sexually explicit photographs and text messages, with the Government’s Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (Ceop) receiving a report a day on average from parents, schools and pupils.

Kate Burls, a former secondary school teacher and the education team coordinator at Ceop, an arm of the National Crime Agency, told The Guardian the practise “increasingly feels like a norm”.

She added that no two incidents are the same, with some involving coercion.

Her comments follow the launch of a NCA campaign in the autumn aimed at raising awareness of sexting, and enabling parents to educate their children about the dangers.

As part of the drive, the NCA worked alongside the University of Edinburgh, the University of Linkoping in Sweden and the German charity Innocence in Danger to uncover why teenagers are drawn to sexting.

In-depth interviews with 51 young people in the UK and Sweden show that many felt pressured by their partner into send the messages.

Ms Burls also warned that many young people appear unaware that they are committing an offence when they sext, as it is illegal to distribute or possess images of person under the age of 18.

The dangers of teenagers sending sexually explicit messages were highlighted by a case involving a 14-year-old boy earlier this year.

The teenager was added to a police database after he took an explicit image of himself and sent it to a female pupil of the same age on Snapchat.

The girl reportedly shared the photograph with others. A police officer with links to the school in northern England alerted the authorities after seeing it.

The act was recorded as a crime of making and distributing an indecent image, but the boy was not arrested or charged.