Australian police wants a 15-minute film on "sexting" to be shown in schools to educate children on the dangers of using mobile phones to send sexually explicit images.

Sergeant Matthew Gildea, of the Bendigo sexual offences and child abuse unit, said sexting among teenagers was out of control, with children as young as 12 involved.

The film, Photograph, made in the regional town of Bendigo with local students, will be shown at a national conference on children's privacy to be held in Melbourne on May 21.

"The use of mobile phones to take these images just highlights how new technologies are making children more and more vulnerable," Victorian Privacy Commissioner Helen Versey said.

She said the conference would discuss sexting, cyber-bullying and online safety, as well as issues such as whether children had the capacity to consent to an organisation using or disclosing their personal information.

"Children are confiding and communicating with their friends online and don't realise the potential for that information to be picked up by others," Ms Versey said.



"We don't want to stop them using the internet and social networking sites but we want them be conscious of what. . . the consequences might be."



Sergeant Gildea said anecdotal evidence suggested the number of teenagers sexting was soaring and he believed the film should be shown in every high school. "You can hear a pin drop in the room when the video is playing because the kids relate to it," he said.



The film shows what happens when a 15-year-old girl agrees to send a sexually explicit photograph of herself to her boyfriend, and then he distributes it after they break up.



The Victoria Education Department plans to provide a link on its website for schools wanting to obtain a copy of Photograph.