"We should be celebrating young people’s good judgment and self-control — and extolling their parents and teachers," writes David Finkelhor, director of University of New Hampshire's Crimes Against Children Research Center, in a Washington Post article just before Thanksgiving. "They have brought delinquency, truancy, promiscuity, alcohol abuse and suicide down to levels unseen in many cases since … [Read more...] about Social problem data & youth: Cause for celebration
CCRC
Textbook case of what NOT to do in teen sexting cases
The Washington Post has done some important reporting on a teen sexting case in Virginia, spotlighting what could (should) go down in history as a textbook example of how police can abuse rather than enforce child pornography law in the digital age. A 17-year-old boy "is facing felony counts of manufacturing and distributing child pornography," the Post reported. I'll let you read the Post … [Read more...] about Textbook case of what NOT to do in teen sexting cases
Net safety’s ‘3 alarmist assumptions’: Researcher
This is news, and not just for the Internet safety field. It's important for policymakers, parents, educators, researchers, healthcare providers and journalists to know about: In the Journal of Child Psychology, sociologist David Finkelhor, one of the US's most prominent experts on child victimization, challenges the "alarmism reflected by so much of the scholarly and journalistic literature" about … [Read more...] about Net safety’s ‘3 alarmist assumptions’: Researcher
Continued downward trend in bullying & other violence for US youth
This is news that we could use more of: US 2-to-17-year-olds have been exposed to decreasing sexual victimization and violence, including bullying. Examining "50 types of violence that kids might witness or experience themselves," researchers at the University of New Hampshire and University of the South found "significant declines in kids' exposure to 27 types of violence and no significant … [Read more...] about Continued downward trend in bullying & other violence for US youth
Declines in 2 online risks for youth: Study
Good news for online kids on two fronts this week. We're seeing a continuing decline in online sexual solicitations of young people. The widely misrepresented 2000 figure from the Crimes Against Children Research Center was "1 in 5" (more in a minute on the misrepresentation); the 2005 one was "1 in 7" (13%), and the CCRC has just announced that it's now 9% in 2010, which was when the CCRC … [Read more...] about Declines in 2 online risks for youth: Study