Sexting – the exchange of sexual messages, photographs or videos via technological devices – is a common phenomenon among teenagers. But does sexting lead to sexual activity? Today in The Conversation Canada, Camille Mori and Sheri Madigan of the University of Calgary report on their latest research ... and the results could be troubling for some parents – youth who are sexting are four times more likely to be having sex and five times more likely to have had multiple sexual partners.

June is the month many Canadian communities hold Pride celebrations. To mark Pride Month, Pamela Malins of Western University offers a list of eight children’s books that challenge gender stereotypes and encourage multiple viewpoints.

As the date of this year’s federal election approaches, our airwaves and social media channels are being bombarded with partisan ads that suggest we live in a very polarized country. Is that really true? Loleen Berdahl of the University of Saskatchewan and Éric Montpetit of the Université de Montréal have looked at the evidence and the answer may surprise you.

And finally…you didn’t need to be in Toronto to catch Raptors fever. Hundreds of thousands of people crowed the city’s core for the NBA champions’ victory parade on Monday. The media coverage focused on the diversity of the people who came out to celebrate. But Corrie Scott of the University of Ottawa says these “feel good” moments mask the everyday racism that Black and other racialized Canadians face on a daily basis – including, incredibly, Raptors president Masai Ujiri, who was stopped by an Oakland policeman from walking onto the court the night his team won the championship.

Regards,