Teaching sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

5 minutes

Part A: Sexting and nudes

20 minutes

Part B: What’s the law?

5 minutes

Part C: Swap it out!

30 minutes

Reflection

Learning intentions:

Students will:

understand the laws around sexting for minors (under 18s)
understand the legal support available
understand the consequences of sharing intimate images, even with consent.

Success criteria:

Students can:

explain the laws around sharing sexy images
identify where to find support if they are in a tricky situation with images they have shared.

Part A: Sexting and nudes

Safety first: Remind students of the Handling Sensitive Topics and Issues Factsheet. Review this document together and take time to clarify anything.

Step 1

Remind students that the content in this lesson might make them feel a bit uncomfortable, and that is normal. There might be some words that make them feel embarrassed to hear in school, and there are lots of ways that people respond to these embarrassing ideas - sometimes, people might not want to make eye contact when they’re talking, and sometimes people giggle. Someone might start talking really loudly, others might not want to say anything, just listen. All of these are normal ways to respond, and it’s important to respect the different ways people might contribute. You can remind students that there are lots of people to talk to if they need to after and that they should make use of these places. You could provide the list from the Handling Sensitive Topics and Issues Factsheet.

Step 2

Review this video from the Know The Internet lesson at the start of this unit:

NSPCC: I saw your willy - (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1n9Jly3CQ8)

Step 3

Ask students to complete the first activity on the Student Worksheet, which asks students to consider whether they believe Alex sending the picture to Katie was illegal. You could complete this in pairs to encourage initial discussion and sharing of opinions.

Additionally, invite them to consider whether they think that Katie forwarding the picture to others was illegal.

This will work fine without recording responses if you require a shorter time for this activity.

Step 4

Invite some students to share their thoughts with the group. Make sure to collect a diverse range of responses (e.g. male and female).

Allow some time for students to discuss the issues raised in the video further. Use these questions to guide your discussion:

How might you have felt if you received a photograph of Alex's willy?
Would everyone feel the same as you, or would there be a range of responses?
Did Katie consent to receiving the image? What if they'd been in a relationship? Would that be different?
Did Alex consent to Katie sending his picture to others? Why do you think that?
Did the other kids who received the picture consent to receive it? Why do you think that?
In the video, Katie shared the image because she thought it was funny. Alex was pretty upset. How do you think Alex might have felt if, instead of sending the image around straight away, Katie had kept the image on her phone and threatened to send it around after she'd had a fight with Alex a few weeks later?
Note: This is called 'sextortion' and is a psychologically damaging behaviour.

Step 5

Explain to students that there are many complexities and legal issues tied into the actions taken by both Alex and Katie in the video.

First, there's the issue of consent – did the recipients of the picture get the opportunity to, or say "yes" to receiving it before it was sent?
Secondly, while Alex consented to the picture being seen by Katie, he didn't consent to it being seen by anyone else. Just because someone says "yes" to something, doesn't mean they say "yes" to everything.
Thirdly, once Alex sent the image, he no longer had control over who would see it. Trust is a huge issue when sexting or sharing images of yourself and you should only ever share personal information or pictures with people you truly trust and will remain trustworthy now and into the future.
Fourthly, being in possession of, or sharing, explicit or intimate images of children is illegal in Australia and the Commonwealth. Each State or Territory has its own laws and penalties and there may be different rules for people aged under or over the ages of 16 or 18. We'll learn more about this soon.
Finally, sending or receiving an explicit or intimate image (or having a picture of you shared with others) can be emotionally upsetting for some people, especially if they are young or haven't seen these types of images before. It can have an impact on people long-term and affect their capacity to trust others or engage in healthy sexual behaviours as an adult.

Part B: What's the law?

Step 1

Display the webpage from Youth Law Australia which discusses sexting (choose your State or Territory in the pop-up window for accurate local information). Explore the information with students, drawing their attention to the information contained under the subheading ‘Sexting without consent’ which says:

Remember, just because someone has sent you a sext, it does not automatically mean they consent to the sext being shared with anyone else. People are allowed to change their minds about sexting at any time!

Sexting can be a crime if it involves people under 18, even if they have consented (that is, agreed to sending and receiving the sexts). This is because the sexts may be considered to be child abuse material (sometimes called child pornography).

Explain to students that technically, in the video, all of the people that shared the image could be charged with distributing child abuse materials (also called child pornography). Also, people that didn’t share the image but kept it on their phone could also be considered to be in possession of child abuse material and be charged. That includes the children!

But that doesn't necessarily mean that if you're found with an intimate pic that you (or other kids involved) will be charged or going to jail. Make sure you talk to a trusted adult so they can address the issue with the appropriate people and then you can delete the picture from your own device.

Step 2

Direct students to read the Sexting Factsheet, explaining further how sexting could be a crime, and what some of the consequences of it may be.

Hint: You may choose to do this as a whole class using the websites - it is preferable to not allow students to access the website independently as there is content that is more suitable for older students.

While reading, encourage students to highlight any words they are unfamiliar with. You can then clarify these terms with your students.

Step 3

After reading the Sexting Factsheet, encourage students to show their comprehension by summarising (and perhaps creating an infographic of) the information using the guiding questions on the Student Worksheet.

Step 4

To check for understanding, have students respond to the following scenarios (you might like to read out the questions and take a hands-up poll, or conduct an online poll, before revealing the answers):

If I'm 11 years old and I send a nude picture of myself to my girlfriend or boyfriend (with their consent), is that illegal? Answer: Yes, it is considered distributing child abuse materials (or child pornography), but in some States or Territories it is unlikely to be prosecuted, although they could.
If I'm 18 years old and I send a nude picture of myself to someone over 18 (with their consent), is that illegal? Answer: No. It is legal for consenting adults to share explicit or intimate images with one another.
If I receive a nude picture from an adult and show it to my parents, caregivers or a trusted adult, is that illegal?
No. It is illegal for the adult to have sent an explicit or intimate image to someone your age, but not for you to share an image of an adult with another adult. In fact, it is very important you do so that the appropriate steps can be taken. If an adult sends you a nude or intimate pic, you should report it to a trusted adult immediately - you will not be in trouble!

If students have further legal questions, you might like to engage your local police department via an incursion to the school to clarify what the laws are surrounding sexting and child abuse materials in your State or Territory. Have students write down their questions and provide them to the police officers prior to their visit so they can prepare.

Part C: Swap it out!

Step 1

Remind students that although it can be risky sharing intimate pictures, there’s still plenty of things they can do to keep in touch or express themselves online. Brainstorm a few examples, such as posting funny gifs.

Step 2

Instruct students to record some of their own ideas on the Student Worksheet.

Note: While we want to discourage children from sending intimate images of themselves to friends, it is more effective to take a harm-minimisation approach, rather than a blanket 'just don't do it' approach. If you are comfortable with this, complete the following activities:

Step 3 (optional)

Have students consider what measures they might be able to take if they do choose to send intimate images or sexts to others, such as using Snapchat which deletes images quickly, or only sending images or sexts to people they know in real life. Remind them that sharing pics with each other should only be done if both people consent and have an agreement (or trust one another) not to send them to other people without consent.

List these on the board.

Step 4 (optional)

Work as a class to create a sharing Code of Conduct or pledge. Some things you might include could be:

I promise not to send intimate images of myself or anyone else to a friend without their consent.
I promise never to forward any intimate images that someone has trusted me with.
I promise to delete all intimate images or sexts I send or receive (to and from my friends) straight away so no one else can find them by accident and I won't be tempted to betray their trust.
I promise to tell a trusted adult if I ever receive an explicit or intimate image from an adult, or am asked to send one of myself to an adult.

You might like to do something to formalise the documents, such as sign copies or participate in a ceremony of some kind. Allow your students to co-create the ceremony so that it holds meaning for them.

Reflection

Invite students to sit in a circle and provide each student an opportunity to share the following:

One word to describe how they are feeling right now
One takeaway from the lesson.

Take it home

Option 1. If you have created a pledge or class Code of Conduct for sharing intimate images, encourage students to take these home and discuss these with their parents, caregivers or a trusted adult. They may like to post it up somewhere at home as a reminder, such as near the computer.

Note: Don't send these directly to parents and consider that some parents may not support a harm-minimisation approach. This activity might be something you should discuss with parents prior to conducting it so you can determine their preferences and find a solution everyone is comfortable with.

Option 2. Have students take home their 'swap it out' ideas to share with their parents or caregivers. Alternatively, you can collate a class list of ideas and send it home to all families.

Students can work with their parents or caregivers to create an Awareness Poster that highlights some of their ‘swap it out’ ideas. The poster should also contain suggestions on where to seek help if needed, or what to do if they receive an explicit or intimate image or sext. They will have learnt about these in Part B of this lesson, as well as other lessons within this unit. There is guidance on the Student Worksheet.

They might like to consider who the audience or what a suitable venue for the Awareness Poster might be, such as their local scout group, library, medical centre or sporting club and ask if they can display it somewhere for young people to view.

You might provide these examples so they know what an effective Awareness Poster (or health promotion poster) looks like:

Differentiated learning

Extension - Consider creating a storyboard, cartoon, script or short story that explains the legal implications of sharing images.

Provisions for Learning Support - For developing readers and writers, allow students to discuss the content without recording it on paper.

eSafety For Kids - Express Yourself Safely

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Summary

Learning intentions:

Students will:

Success criteria:

Students can:

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