This article deals with the issue of sexting, a currently relatively widespread phenomenon, especially among adolescents. The purpose of the first section is to introduce to the readers basic information about this phenomenon – mainly to explain the term, outline the reasons why children practise sexting and what the basic prevention involves. The second part summarises results of an inquiry aimed at finding out whether adolescent inquiry population has ever met with the term sexting, whether they know what it means and whether they possess any practical sexting experience at all. The research techniques included qualitative strategy, inquiry methods and semi-structured interview. The research population consisted of nine children from different towns of the Czech Republic selected by the “snowball” technique of non-empirical selection. The overall analysis shows that today children know what sexting is, even though they do not often connect the activity with this particular term, and practise it actively. The research also shows that children use mobile phone for taking sexual pictures, by means of which they also upload them to social networks, most often to Facebook. The children practising sexting and forwarding the photographs do not know the risks themselves and/or do not realize them. The children knowing the risks do not practise sexting and do not even intend to get involved in activities like that.

University of South Bohemia Faculty of Health and Social Studies Department of Social Work České Budějovice Czech Republic

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