Cyber and phone sex usually involve sex talk on the phone or texting on the phone or messaging over the Internet. Sometimes, one or both people masturbate as they talk about sexually arousing things.

For some people, cyber and phone sex are ways to have sexual experiences with another person without the risks of pregnancy, disease or having to work at having a “real life” relationship with someone.

Couples who are separated by distance sometimes use phone or cyber sex to stay close while they’re apart. Other times, people in committed relationships use phone or cyber sex to have sexual activity outside of their relationship that they don’t see as cheating. Some people do consider this kind of sex cheating. Others don’t. It’s up to each couple to decide what is OK and what’s not OK in their relationship.

Cyber and phone sex have no risk of pregnancy or disease, since you aren’t in physical contact with the other person. They can carry emotional risks and privacy risks.

If you exchange phone numbers, screen names or addresses with people you don’t know, or only know over the internet, can be dangerous since you don’t know who you’re talking to. That’s especially true with cyber sex when people can lie easily about their age, sex and who they are. Sexual predators (usually adults) sometimes disguise themselves and go online to lure young people into sexual encounters, pornography, prostitution and other illegal and dangerous activities.

That’s why it’s important to never arrange a personal meeting with someone you only know through the Internet. People have been hurt and even killed by agreeing to meet with people they only know online. This sounds extreme, and certainly doesn’t happen every time, but it’s something we want you to be aware of so you can make the best decisions for you.