**8. Conclusions**

Sexting is a form of healthy sexual exploration that will be used by teens. The right to consent to sexting also is complex, particularly when considering it within the context of secondary sexting, revenge porn, and aggravated sexting. Still, if teens are better equipped to navigate their digital

personalities and experiences through educational initiatives that incorporate sexting (Mori et al. 2019), they will be less likely to normalize coercive behavior both on- and o ffline, thus utilizing sexting as a healthy form of sexual expression. As discussed in this article, this tension only serves to underscore the need to further understand adolescent sexting, the development and implementation of research-based policies concerned with sexting use and abuse, and best practices for the discussion of sexting in educational curricula and training.

Sexting cannot be pushed under the rug through archaic and morally punitive policies. It also cannot be shamed away through abstinence-only sexual education, nor will it disappear by pretending it does not exist. Following from the research presented herein, districts and schools should have comprehensive policies and programming to address sexting. All teachers, and not just those who teach health education, should have proper support and resources to discuss and address this issue. In this vein, sexual education curricula should balance the discussion of sexting as a healthy means to explore sexuality, while also identifying the legality of sexting and parameters within which it can cross the line and turn violent.

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, M.L. and K.R.; Data curation, M.L. and K.R.; Formal analysis, M.L. and K.R.; Methodology, M.L.; Supervision, M.L.; Writing—original draft, M.L. and K.R.; Writing—review & editing, M.L. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This research received no external funding.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.
