A recent study released by University of New Hampshire
researchers for the National Center for Missing and Exploited
Children indicates that fewer youth are subject to sexual
solicitations online than they were five years ago, but more are
harassing each other on the Internet, a fact which local teens and
their families readily attest to.
A recent study released by University of New Hampshire researchers for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children indicates that fewer youth are subject to sexual solicitations online than they were five years ago, but more are harassing each other on the Internet, a fact which local teens and their families readily attest to.
“Yeah, it’s happened to me, but I’m guilty, too,” said Jackie Chevarria, who will be a junior in high school next year. “It’s almost worse than if you say something (nasty) to someone’s face, because on the Internet everyone can see it. It’s more humiliating.”
UNH surveyed 1,500 children between the ages of 10 and 17 about their online habits and experiences as a follow-up to the Online Victimization of Youth study published in 2000.
The study revealed that one in seven children received unwanted sexual solicitations compared to one in five in 2000.
“The only time I remember ever having to deal with something like that was when I was 12 or 13 and using the Java chatrooms that eventually got shut down because of how not secure they were,” recent SBHS graduate Magali Ferare said. “I was pretending to be like 16 years old and some older guy said he wanted to see pictures of my boobs. It was gross, but it wasn’t such a big deal. I just left the chatroom.”
The report’s authors speculated that today’s teens are more savvy online than they were five years ago and have become more adept at avoiding people who are likely to cause trouble. The report did conclude, however, that the most serious solicitations – those in which strangers attempted online to coerce kids into meeting with them in person – did not decrease.
“I look over my kids’ shoulders to make sure they’re being safe on the Internet, but they seem to know what they’re doing,” said Laura Chevarria, Jackie’s mother. “All the kids on their MySpace look familiar to me.”
Youths are also subjected to more unwanted pornographic images than they were in 2000, much of it depicting “sexual deviance or violence,” according to the report. One-third of all students surveyed reported being subject to pornographic ads they never wanted to see, up from 22 percent in 2000.
“I try to stay away from sites where those ads come up,” Jackie said. “Not just porn, but the poker ads and Viagra ads; they’re all really annoying.”
Nine percent of all children surveyed reported that they endured some form of online harassment, up from 6 percent in 2000, and nearly half of the time (44 percent) it was at the hands of someone they knew. Social networking sites such as MySpace – which allow teens to easily create their own web profiles and send messages back and forth among friends – or online forums may have part in facilitating this trend, report authors speculate.
“Nasty comments and sexual innuendoes are no longer confined to a bathroom wall or small groups of peers,” the report reads. “Now bullies have an ‘electronic bathroom wall’ that allows for widespread distribution of gossip.”
Only 12 percent of youth who reported being harassed online were younger than 13, and 58 percent of those who were harassed were female. Among incidents that the youth described as “distressing,” 68 percent of the reportees were female.
“I think that the Internet can be a dangerous place if you’re not careful how you present yourself. If you want to post provocative pictures of yourself on MySpace, then you’re probably going to run into some trouble,” Ferare said. “Just like in real life.”
Danielle Smith covers education for the Free Lance. Reach her at 637-5566, ext. 336 or ds****@fr***********.com.
