How to react to intimate pictures being shared in primary school class chats

Increasingly often, children and young people share intimate pictures of themselves in WhatsApp class groups. How can parents and schools deal with this?

It happens increasingly often that primary school children might send intimate pictures to the class group, whether on purpose or by accident. When something like this happens, there are naturally a lot of different reactions: many parents and caregivers might feel like attacking or blaming the child, classmates might make fun of it, and overall, it is a terrible experience for the child. It is, therefore all the more important that adults take the initiative and talk to children of primary school age about sexuality, nudity and the body.

Such things happening are not surprising in itself: children often have their own mobile phone or a smartwatch with a camera as early as primary school, and they sometimes might take intimate pictures with it. Young people’s first experiences with their own sexuality are sometimes shared with others.

If they are not informed in time that nude pictures are extremely risky to share on the internet, they will, of course, not be aware that they shouldn’t send such pictures via WhatsApp. On the one hand, this is about protecting one's own privacy, but on the other hand, it is also about social rules and legal aspects.

Teaching social rules

As in other areas of life, young people first have to learn about sexuality, what is appropriate and socially accepted in their country. They should learn when nudity is appropriate and when it is not, and that others may not appreciate it if you send them unsolicited intimate photos.

Promote a realistic body image

The fact that children make fun of the pictures sent in such incidents may also have to do with the fact that children are coming into contact with pornography at an increasingly early age and use it as a source of information, despite not being a reliable depiction of reality. Children are often not yet able to distinguish between staged pornography and real sexuality - and this is exactly where education is needed.

In case your class WhatsApp group is affected, such incidents should be used as an opportunity to talk to the children about sexuality, consent, and inappropriate content. This can be covered in class by teachers and educators themselves, or within the framework of a sexual education workshop with professionals. Sometimes, there is also the possibility to offer such training for parents and caregivers - because education on this topic should of course also take place in the families.

The message to be conveyed to the children is that everybody is unique and beautiful in their way. It should also be made very clear that online pornography is not a reflection of reality. A comparison with action or fantasy films, which also use professionally trained actors, props, editing and other technical tricks, can be helpful here.

Watch and discover more tricks in the video below.

Point out legal consequences

Such incidents can also have legal consequences. This is because such intimate pictures can be considered "child pornographic material" in Austria according to §207a StGB. According to this law, both the distribution and the possession of such images are punishable. All children who received the picture and saved it on their mobile phones can therefore be considered owners of the photo - that's why they absolutely must delete the picture; and not only on WhatsApp and in the photo gallery of the mobile phone, but also in all backups and possibly in the hidden files or temporary folders. It is also advised to deactivate the automatic download in WhatsApp from the outset.

It is never too late to get educated

Even if such incidents cannot be undone, they should be used as an opportunity to talk to the children about sexuality and how to deal with their own privacy on the internet. If they know better the next time, an important step has already been taken in the right direction.

Teaching social rules

As in other areas of life, young people first have to learn about sexuality, what is appropriate and socially accepted in their country. They should learn when nudity is appropriate and when it is not, and that others may not appreciate it if you send them unsolicited intimate photos.

Promote a realistic body image

The fact that children make fun of the pictures sent in such incidents may also have to do with the fact that children are coming into contact with pornography at an increasingly early age and use it as a source of information, despite not being a reliable depiction of reality. Children are often not yet able to distinguish between staged pornography and real sexuality - and this is exactly where education is needed.

In case your class WhatsApp group is affected, such incidents should be used as an opportunity to talk to the children about sexuality, consent, and inappropriate content. This can be covered in class by teachers and educators themselves, or within the framework of a sexual education workshop with professionals. Sometimes, there is also the possibility to offer such training for parents and caregivers - because education on this topic should of course also take place in the families.

The message to be conveyed to the children is that everybody is unique and beautiful in their way. It should also be made very clear that online pornography is not a reflection of reality. A comparison with action or fantasy films, which also use professionally trained actors, props, editing and other technical tricks, can be helpful here.

Watch and discover more tricks in the video below.

Point out legal consequences

Such incidents can also have legal consequences. This is because such intimate pictures can be considered "child pornographic material" in Austria according to §207a StGB. According to this law, both the distribution and the possession of such images are punishable. All children who received the picture and saved it on their mobile phones can therefore be considered owners of the photo - that's why they absolutely must delete the picture; and not only on WhatsApp and in the photo gallery of the mobile phone, but also in all backups and possibly in the hidden files or temporary folders. It is also advised to deactivate the automatic download in WhatsApp from the outset.

It is never too late to get educated

Even if such incidents cannot be undone, they should be used as an opportunity to talk to the children about sexuality and how to deal with their own privacy on the internet. If they know better the next time, an important step has already been taken in the right direction.

Better Internet for Kids