The combination of social media and smartphones has created an immediate marketplace for the dissemination and sharing of private images that could not have been imaged just a couple of decades ago.

But while there might be an immediate thrill in sending an intimate photo to a special someone, the potential pain can last much, much longer.

This is the message parents, teachers and social media commentators have been trying to get through to young people for many years now but, as we know, teens aren't always ready to take on board advice from their elders.

Perhaps, though, they might listen to one of their peers who has been hurt by the new world of teen communication.

A Facebook post published this week by a local teen describes the anguish she felt when she learned a private image taken two years ago was now being shared on social media.

The post was raw, brave and important.

It came from a young woman who realised she had made a poor decision but who refused to be shamed by it.

Crucially, though, the post was not written in her own defence; it was an appeal to other teenagers not to make the same mistake.

Our teen years are not a time where we think too much about what consequences there might be for our actions one year, two years or 10 years down the track. And nor should they be.

Our teen years should be a time of growing, exploring and testing new boundaries.

They are a time when we start to become the adults we will one day be and they are a time to make mistakes. And a time to learn from them.

Simply telling young people not to share intimate photos of themselves will never be enough to stop the practice because teens believe adults just do not understand them.

And when it comes to sexting, they're probably right. But we were all young once and we all know it's not easy.

So we are here to help them and guide them through the turbulent, tumultuous and terrific teenage years but to do that, we must keep trying to understand the new world.

Teens don't need judgment, they need support. And they need us to keep talking even when they're not listening.