From the School Safety Resource Center
Course - Sexting: What You Need to Know
Sexting: What You Need to Know is a course, offered by the Colorado School Safety Resource Center, a division of the Colorado Department of Public Safety. The course aims to prevent high-risk behavior, mitigate its damage, protect those involved, and aid community recovery, aligning with the Center's preparedness missions. Created to meet Colorado legal requirements (C.R.S. 18-7-109(5)(c) and 22-1-128), it educates juveniles on healthy relationships and the legal, academic, financial, and social consequences of sexting. While suitable for juveniles consensually exchanging images, more intensive interventions might be needed for higher-risk offenders. The course is accessible online via the Child Welfare Training System (recommended for ease of use, though certificate saving is required for proof of completion) or in person through a designated trainer from the School Safety Resource Center.
Taking The Course:
Sexting: What you need to know, ID 177649
After completing this module, you will be familiar with:
- Identify the elements of a healthy relationship
- Define juvenile sexting
- Name the legal charges and penalties for juvenile sexting
- Describe the legal, social, academic, and financial consequences of sexting.
Plan for about 1 hour to complete the course and review resources.
A printable certificate of completion will be available upon completing the course.
Be sure to complete all interactivity on each page. The course will not allow you to advance prior to completing every interactive element.
Supplemental Course Resources:
As noted, the creation of this course was a result of statutory mandate. The purpose was twofold: to provide a tool for prosecutors and the judiciary to encourage smart digital decisions by our youth, and to provide a model program for schools for use in prevention programming. The goal is to prevent harm. These additional resources were created to maximize flexibility of use of the course materials for diversion/probation departments as well as prevention educators.
In 2017, the Colorado Legislature passed HB 17-1302 which implements changes to the way prosecutors can address juvenile "sexting" cases.
Prior to the enactment of this law, prosecutors' only option for charging teen sexting behavior (even among consenting friends) was felony exploitation of a child. The new law, which applies to behavior on or after January 1, 2018, is a tiered approach that separates abusive forms of sexting (such as malicious distribution) from consensual electronic exchange of explicit images
Facilitator's Guide to Sexting: What You Need to Know [PDF]
This guide is a companion piece to the course that corresponds to the screencasts linked below. It was designed for in-class instruction on the course content subchapters:, Introduction to the CSSRC, Healthy Relationships, Juvenile Sexting, Legal Matters, Consequences, and Conclusion. It is targeted to prevention educators of middle and high school students. It contains broad suggestions which could be adapted for younger and older audiences.
- This letter serves as a template for your school or youth organization to inform parents/guardians of sexting prevention training or seek parental consent for students to participate.
Course sample, chapter one