Justin Patchin

And basically the argument was it's time to teach safe sexting.

And we had thought about this for years and we didn't really want to ruin our careers at that point to try to argue such a thing.

But at some point we just deduced, we came to the conclusion that

We need to have a conversation about exactly what you just suggested in these harm reduction models instead of this sort of abstinence only approach that hasn't worked with regular sexual behaviors.

And so the kinds of things we recommended.

So in that article, we basically provide 10 strategies to reduce the potential for harm.

And it's things like, you know, make sure you're engaging in these behaviors with somebody you know and trust.

Now, again, that's a little questionable when you're talking about teenagers, even adults, but at least that's a start.

Don't include pictures of your face.

Don't include identifiable characteristics like a tattoo.

Don't do it in your bedroom where people can see exactly your environment.

The issue is you want plausible deniability that it's actually you in that image should that image be circulated beyond your original intent.

So you just need to be smart with how you're doing it.

Yeah, you're 100% right.

And in fact, the email, the communication we got in response to that article was very bimodal, to use a statistical term.

People either loved it or hated it.

A lot of people said, yeah, we need to do this.

It's past time.

We need to focus on this.

And others are just like, no, they shouldn't be doing it.