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Teenage girls in Cape Breton are having trouble keeping their phones in their pants, say local police, who claim "sexting" is on the rise on the Nova Scotia island.

Local police have sent a notice to Cape Breton Victoria Regional School Board parents that warns an increasing group of teens in the region are believed to be participating in sexting -- taking nude or partially-nude photographs of themselves with their cellphones and sending them to other teens.

The notice, which was sent to parents of at least one school in Sydney, was sparked by a police investigation that discovered the practice is becoming commonplace. Staff Sgt. Mike Kennedy of the Cape Breton Regional Police said the probe started after a parent discovered illicit photos on their child's phone and contacted the school.

Several students came forward to speak to police, who also used the force's technical unit to track messages sent by some students. Several electronic devices containing hundreds of illicit images were seized.

"They are very explicit pictures," Kennedy told CTVNews.ca on Friday, adding it was most often girls taking photos of themselves and sending them to their boyfriends. "Some of the guys were trading them like hockey cards."

"Any image showing a person under the age of 18 years exposing their breasts, sexual organs or anal region, or that shows any person under the age of 18 to be engaged in explicit sexual activity is considered child pornography," states a news release the police issued on Friday. It adds that convictions for manufacturing, possessing, distributing or accessing child pornography can lead to a minimum penalty of 45 days to 1 year.

"If sentenced as an adult, a conviction would also mean being placed on the National Sex Offender Registry for a minimum of 10 years," states the ominous release.

No one was charged in the investigation, said Kennedy, although at least 50 students were found to be involved in the sharing of nude photos.

One school principal, who spoke with Â鶹ӰÊÓ on Thursday, said officials suspected the problem but were shocked by the scope.

"It's a lot bigger than we thought," he said.

Kennedy added that he hopes those who were implicated got the message that sexting is dangerous.

"You've got perverts out there who may save these pictures and somewhere down the road they could end up surfacing," he said, noting someone with nude photos online could find themselves in an awkward situation once they're in the workforce. "I don't think some of these girls know what they were doing."

However, Toronto relationship expert Cynthia Loyst says that, these days, it's easy for young women to get the wrong message about how to express their sexuality.

"Pick up any magazine and the vast majority of images feature young women scantily clad and in sexually suggestive poses. It's worth noting that the average age of a fashion model is 16," said Loyst, former host of CP24 TV show "Sex Matters."

"Mass media not only encourages, it often celebrates girls for displaying a performative sexuality," she said, adding that one need only look at celebrities such as Kim Kardashian, who became famous largely due to a sex tape, for confirmation.

"It shouldn't be surprising when we see young people mimicking what they see in media every day," she told CTVNews.ca. "This is a strong reminder of the importance of comprehensive and age-appropriate sex education… It's equally important to teach young people to think critically about the sexual images that surround them every day."