App Helps Teens Block Sexts As If They're Not the Ones Sending Them

There are three indisputable facts about teens. 1.) They love it when copywriters replace “ex” sounds with just the letter X. 2.) They want their moms to get out of their rooms. And 3.) they cannot stop sexting.

Thankfully, there’s a new app to help with the third thing.

Zipit, developed by British charity Childline, allows teenagers to respond to sexts with “witty” memes instead of snaps of their own adolescent junk. These memes include a image of a banana peel with the words “That’s not appealing” (awesome!), a picture of a surprised cheetah with the words “do. not. want” (rad!), and a picture of stressed-out chimp accompanied by “I’m into you, but not into that” (shamalamadingdong!)

“We hope Zipit will give [young people] the tools to defuse the pressure to send, share or collect these images,” a Childline representative who totally gets teenagers told the BBC.

From their website:

“Zipit helps you get flirty chat back on the right track. It’s packed with killer comebacks and top tips to help you stay in control of your chat game.”

Yeah, because nothing says “I may not like to sext, but I’m still cool” quite like a shoddy-looking meme that was clearly invented by a bunch of dads.

It’s a nice try, Childline, but while the idea of giving kids who don’t feel comfortable sexting (which — despite my earlier sarcasm — is totally legitimate) a fun and witty alternative is certainly admirable, the app is misguided at best…On the other hand, it will be effective in stopping them from ever getting laid. So job well done?