Ask Amy: Teen should steer clear of sexy texts

DEAR AMY: I'm a 14-year-old girl and a high school freshman. I like a sophomore named "Thomas." He's a great guy and I respect him and stuff, and I'm fairly sure I have feelings for him. The only problem is that he's really sexual. He says he's just messing around, but whenever he texts me he's always making sexual comments (like he's taking his clothes off, he wants to make out, etc.). Sometimes I reply and do the same thing, but I'm always kidding. I don't know whether he's kidding and he cares or he's just trying to "get some." Friends say to stop texting him because he's sending the same stuff to them, but I can't. Help!

--Oblivious in Ohio

DEAR OBLIVIOUS: A study released by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy shows that around 15 percent of teens report receiving "sexts" - text messages containing sexually explicit photos. I assume a much higher percentage send and receive sexual text without photos.

You should know that both sending and being in possession of nude photos of young people (by receiving and storing them on your phone) could get you (as well as "Thomas") into huge trouble - I mention this because Thomas sounds like someone who might do this and pressure you or another student to participate.

In January, two middle school students in Indiana were charged with possession of child pornography for sending and receiving nude photos. They were 12 and 13 years old.

Don't answer these texts.

Your friends are right - don't go there. This guy is doing something disrespectful. It doesn't matter whether he's kidding or really into you.

Remember that any text you send out can fly around the world in a nanosecond, forwarded forever by people who don't even know you.

I hope you'll share this with your parents. They need to know what's going on.