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The word sexting is a combination of two words, the first being sex and the second being text.
So basically what somebody's doing is they're sending a sexually explicit message through
their mobile phone. You know this can be in the form of words or, in its most damaging
effect, it can be in the form of a picture or a sexually inappropriate picture or a naked
picture of somebody that they send over their mobile phone.
In my experience as an addiction therapist at the Caron Treatment Center in New York
City, where I see people get in to trouble with this is where they do it under the influence
of drugs and alcohol. So the drugs and alcohol impair their judgement. And they do things
that they wouldn't normally do if they weren't under the influence of drugs.
It's important to note that sexting can cause some serious damage in a person's life. In
particular if you're sending a picture of a person who's underage, a naked picture of
a person who's underage, that's a felony. And people have been convicted of felonies
in their life which has a very damaging effect. So it's important for us to realize that sexting
involves sending inappropriate pictures, sending inappropriate sexually suggestive messages
over a cell phone. And when you're doing that under the influence of drugs and alcohol it
can lead to very, very, very serious consequences.