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What does increase teen girls’ risk online

May 27, 2009 By Anne Leave a Comment

A new study in the medical journal Pediatrics found that “a history of childhood abuse and use of a provocative online identity increase the risk that girls will be victimized by someone they meet on the Internet,” CNN reports, and a key factor in reducing risk is “the presence and influence of caregivers.” and a key factor in reducing risk is “the presence and influence of caregivers.” Nothing unprecedented about these findings, but they confirm what the full body of online-safety research, gathered by last year’s Internet Safety Technical Task Force, shows. This study, led by Jennie G. Noll of the Cincinnati, Ohio, Children’s Hospital Medical Center, is one of the first I’ve seen to add avatar appearance to screennames as a way people can intentionally or inadvertently indicate sexual interest to people they “meet” online. As CNN put it, “girls are more likely to experience online sexual advances or have offline encounters if they have previously been abused or have a provocative avatar.” The study “looked at 104 abused [those who had suffered neglect, physical abuse or sexual abuse] and 69 non-abused girls ages 14 to 17,” 54% white and 46% minorities. Among these girls, 40% “reported experiencing sexual advances online” and 26% “reported meeting someone offline after getting to know the person on the Internet. Abused girls were much more likely to have experienced both, the authors found.” Pew/Internet senior researcher Amanda Lenhart later commented that the study in Pediatrics confirmed previous research but left out some other risk trouble spots we need to be aware of – that kids with histories of mental illness and family conflict are equally at risk online. Thanks to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children for pointing this study out.

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Filed Under: Research, Risk & Safety, sexual exploitation, Social Media Tagged With: Amanda Lenhart, Jennie Noll, Pediatrics, Pew Internet, sexual solicitations

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NAMLE, the National Association for Media Literacy Education
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Childnet International
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Control Shift: a pivotal book for Internet safety
Crimes Against Children Research Center
Crisis Textline
Cyber Civil Rights Initiative's Revenge Porn Crisis Line
Cyberwise.org
danah boyd's blog and book about networked youth
Disconnected, Carrie James's book on digital ethics
FOSI.org's Good Digital Parenting
The research of Global Kids Online
The Good Project at Harvard's School of Education
If you watch nothing else: "Parenting in a Digital Age" TED Talk by Prof. Sonia Livingstone
The International Bullying Prevention Association
Let Grow Foundation
Making Caring Common
Raising Digital Natives, author Devorah Heitner's site
Renee Hobbs at the Media Education Lab
MediaSmarts.ca
The New Media Literacies
Report of the Aspen Task Force on Learning & the Internet and our guide to Creating Trusted Learning Environments
The Ruler Approach to social-emotional learning (Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence)
Sources of Strength
"Young & Online: Perspectives on life in a digital age" from young people in 26 countries (via UNICEF)
"Youth Safety on a Living Internet": 2010 report of the Online Safety & Technology Working Group (and my post about it)

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