Sexting: You Found the Sext, What to Do Next? How School Psychologists Can Assist with Policy, Prevention, and Intervention

Early Monday morning, it is brought to the school psychologist’s attention that Katie, a 15-year-old student, engaged in “sexting” over the weekend; she sent a naked picture of herself to her boyfriend. The boyfriend immediately forwarded the picture to a group of his friends. At school on Monday, many students were talking about the picture, and Katie was humiliated. The school is unaware of how many students this sext message has reached. What can the school psychologist do to intervene with the female student, her boyfriend, and his friends? What, if anything, can be done to prevent this message from being spread to other students and even other school districts? Should law enforcement be contacted? How can the school psychologist help prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future