Sitting in her room after school as a 16-year-old girl, drinking heavily to ease her pain, Sally* felt helpless for weeks and contemplated taking her own life.
A nude image she had sent to a boy she trusted had been leaked into a group chat and she was being ostracised by her peers during the day at Horowhenua College.
She was met with shame and teasing as the picture and word spread. It kickstarted a downward spiral and she turned to alcohol to numb feelings of sadness.
Sally explains no one around her cared that the private image was intended only for the eyes of a person she liked. Her reputation was being built on the actions of others, yet she felt the breach of privacy was blamed solely on her.
During that time as a year 11 at the school in 2016, she had taken part in activities considered "normal" for teenagers these days.
She would socialise with friends on weekends, attend parties and had crushes. It wasn't until Sally moved to Wellington to study in 2019 she realised other aspects of her high school education had been out of the ordinary.
Sally says a "revenge porn culture" existed at Horowhenua College and girls who had sent explicit photos would commonly later find out they had been reshared.
"They would trade these images like Pokemon card trades. In a strange way, it gave you status in the school. The more nudes you had, the more people would talk to you for the chance to get a peek of what girls looked like nude," Sally told Newshub.
In some cases, pictures were used directly against victims as blackmail, with threats to take them public if more weren't sent.
Now 20 years old, she's speaking out - motivated by information alleging similar incidents are continuing in her hometown community.
She wants to be sure attitudes are focused on cutting the behaviour out, claiming "many times" when she and her friends would speak to staff, their response was to listen and agree "as friends would" but didn't take any action.
"They didn’t tell us we could go to the police or the things that happened to us we’re not okay. They never informed our parents that our nude images were getting leaked or provided us with support or places where we could get therapy."
Following the discovery last month that students at a south Canterbury high school had been resharing explicit photos, which prompted a warning to parents in an August newsletter, she and five other ex-students from Horowhenua College and one former Waiopehu College student told Newshub about the crisis young people are facing.
Newshub has spoken to both principals at both high schools, receiving statements addressing the students' claims.
'Girls no more likely to share nudes than boys'
The impact on a young person's mental state can be significant while navigating unknown or overwhelming emotions.
Manawatū area crime prevention manager Insp Ross Grantham told Newshub supporting victims who have had explicit photos shared is "not an uncommon problem" which police are "being consulted about on a regular basis".
The difficult situations are opening doors to blackmailing from those in possession of the unprotected images, asking for more images by threatening to release the original.
Netsafe CEO Martin Crocker told Newshub this can lead to online bullying, abuse, harassment and sometimes "significant distress".
The emotional scars being carved into the minds of Kiwi teenagers feeling pressured to expose personal pieces of themselves is a country-wide issue grappling thousands.
Crocker says Netsafe research indicates one in five young people aged 14-17 in New Zealand have been asked to send a nude image, but findings showed that although girls were more likely to receive requests for nude images than boys, they were no more likely to share nude or nearly nude images than boys.
"The research also revealed that young people believe sharing nude or nearly nude images is commonplace, with about half of all respondents saying sharing nudes happens 'often' or 'very often'," he said.
With knowledge from their own negative experiences, Sally and the five others from the Manawatu-Whanganui region are adamant more must be done from all angles to drive home the importance of consent.
They are calling for more learning resources around consent and would like to see stronger consequences for teenagers found to be sharing explicit images.
Of those who shared their stories, four found out their image had been shared around multiple people - including to one group chat dubbed 'the w*nk bank'.
'Don't share naked images without consent'
At 19 years old, now in her second year of university, Ava*, is not embarrassed anymore. She's angry.
"I'm one of the girls who had her nudes shared while underage by the senior boys," she told Newshub. "At the time it's consensual, but everything that happens after that is where the problem is."
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Ava was 15 years old when she exchanged explicit photographs with a male student at the same school who reassured her he wouldn't share them with others. But within weeks, he became annoyed at her and sent her pictures to his friend, who was "known for collecting girls' naked pictures".
The images were uploaded into one of the group chats with students from a mixture of year levels.
Losing control of where the deeply private pictures went and knowing nothing can change that now, Ava wants education around consent and privacy to be stronger in a hope of stopping it from happening to others.
She says if the message is focused on being more diligent and respectful of images taken in a moment, meant for a moment - not a lifetime, then it could be prevented, as opposed to blaming those taking the pictures in the first instance.
"We want the focus to be less on the girls needing to be careful of what they share and more 'don't share around naked images without consent'," she explained.
'There were too many girls to count'
A former Horowhenua College student told Newshub he saw inside one of the group chats, revealing its content, and recalling uncertainty in how to react.
While using a friend's phone last year, Rick* came across a group chat, clicked into Messenger, scrolled up and found photo after photo of girls between 12 to 18 years old naked or partially-clothed.
"There honestly were too many girls to count. Enough to need to scroll multiple times through a photo gallery. There's so many girls and so many who will have no idea their photo is in that pile," Rick told Newshub.
"There was talk about trading images. It seemed to be mostly a place where the boys were boosting themselves about what they did."
Host to more than 30 young male members, he says a sender would often include personal details about a girl pictured and what sexual activities they had done together. Derogatory comments sometimes followed.
"I had never been in a situation like that. I wish the school had taught us what to do when you find out someone is sharing this type of stuff because I honestly had no idea how I was supposed to react."
Rick says he didn't tell school management about what he saw inside the chatroom.
"I definitely live with some guilt over not going to an adult about this, but once you're in that situation it feels so emotionally awkward."
Charlotte*, another former Horowhenua College student, told Newshub she was taunted by an ex-boyfriend at the school who threatened to share her nude images and videos they had exchanged as a couple, once they broke up.
She went to the guidance counsellor who contacted the police but once they were involved she said the school left it up to officers.
Now she is urging school leaders to take students' claims seriously instead of "brushing it off".
"I want there to be an actual process with the school and police where even historic cases are taken seriously, and all the information is actually collected," she said.
"I want teachers and staff to reach out when they hear it in class and actually have a channel in which to punish students who are caught sharing or talking about the girl's pictures."
Another student in Charlotte's year group told Newshub when they were 16, a sex tape that they had made with a partner was later shared between classmates.
"It went around every school in the Horowhenua area and then I took two weeks off school. When I returned, the school told me to try not to focus on it' or 'move on'.
"Every time I walked down the corridor, I was laughed at, heckled at and harrassed."
Horowhenua College principal Grant Congdon told Newshub the issue of nude images being exchanged in a group chat was first brought to the attention of the guidance counsellor in 2016 when a student complained.
"Apologies were given by the boys to the victim and there was ongoing supervision of the boys by the guidance counsellor."
He says the process was thorough; an investigation was launched and the issue was taken very seriously including involving the police, and ongoing support and monitoring was put in place.
He said police warnings were communicated regarding behaviour along with explanations of what consequences would occur if the behaviour continued and students were instructed to remove photos from phones and devices.
"The guidance counsellor provided ongoing support and reiterated that any victim remained able to lay a complaint with the police, even at a later date. "
Insp Grantham told Newshub Horowhenua police Youth Services staff constantly work with all of local schools around social media and web safety and have for a number of years.
He urged anyone needing assistance to talk to police or Netsafe.
'Blamed for it, or just nothing happens'
Lee*, who attended Waiopehu College, told Newshub he felt worthless after a photo of him naked was leaked into the group chat in 2016.
"I felt like because everyone was laughing and had seen my nude image and no one cared about me that my life was over," he told Newshub. "I felt I could never have a career because this would always haunt me."
At one point, Lee says he was being bullied and sexually harassed by multiple students after a photo he took when he was 15 years old was circulated. He says his concerns fell on deaf ears when he approached school staff.
"They said that there was nothing they could do and it’s my fault anyway. The bullying got so bad that I eventually went to the teachers begging for help."
He says the school did pull in some students - including the one who leaked the photo - but they received little punishment.
Waiopehu principal Mark Robinson told Newshub issues relating to "digital citizenship", including sexting, is something he understands a number of principals are dealing with.
Robinson said he is aware of one incident from 2016 regarding the sharing of an image between a number of students.
"This was investigated and addressed as soon as we were alerted to it. The students involved and their parents were all included in the process. Appropriate disciplinary processes were followed and support was offered to the student involved. My understanding is that this was seen to be handled well."
"As a school we take our responsibilities very seriously and are constantly reviewing all parts of our operations.
"This includes our education programmes, but also other aspects such as safeguards to ensure digital safety and security in our school."
Lee says however: "More serious action to take place when these issues are brought to the attention of the staff.
"Us students are breaking down and begging for help and are either being blamed for it, or just nothing happens."
He wants other students who may be going through something similar to know they aren't alone.
"There is someone who can help and nothing was stripped from you. You are still your own person."
On August 20, Robinson attended the meeting along with Horowhenua College principal Grant Congdon and Manawatu College principal Bruce McIntyre with Sally, Ava and another former student to discuss processes that can attempt to prevent the issue from continuing.
Robinson says he found the meeting really valuable, enabling the senior staff to hear the views of former students and for them to share concerns, stories and reflections.
"This provided us with an opportunity to also reflect and reassure the young people on what our schools are currently doing to support and educate students really well in order to help them make good choices."
For the group of students, they hope by speaking out more people will work to discourage anyone known to be sharing private images and will prompt reviews of current high school systems to ensure easy pathways exist for victims to report cases and find support.
Rick says the school's input is essential to helping teenagers understand the full extent of their actions.
"The school is an educational place, they should be educating their pupils about dangers and consequences. You cannot assume every parent is capable or willing to do that," Rick said.
*Fictional names have been used to protect the students' identities
Where to find help and support:
Need to Talk? - Call or text 1737
What's Up - 0800 WHATS UP (0800 942 8787)
Lifeline - 0800 543 354 or (09) 5222 999 within Auckland
Youthline - 0800 376 633, text 234, email talk@youthline.co.nz or online chat
The Classification Office has advice and answers to frequently asked questions for parents and whānau who want to talk with their young people about pornography here
The Light Project website
Sharenting – sharing images and videos of young people safely
