Children at the age of ten and younger are feeling the pressure to send explicit pictures and videos of themselves online according to police.
With only a fraction of all cases being reported to officials, police say children are being targeted almost every day and are beginning to see these types of requests as normal.
“Many teen girls do not bother to complain as they are so used to the requests they view them as normal,” said one officer.
With heightened risks attached to online activity, parents are feeling the pressure to educate their kids about cyber safety.
However, with girls as young at ten reported to have been asked for sex on gaming sites, services like Childline are seeing a huge increase in children asking for their help.
The children’s helpline says they’ve seen a 15pc increase in the number of calls from children wanting to talk about sexting.
“Virtually every day we see examples of very young children, I’m talking ten or sometimes a bit younger, being asked to supply imagery online. And it’s very under-reported,” says Det Supt John MacDonald of Sexual Offences, Exploitation and Child Abuse Command.
