Teens and Pornography | Common Sense Media

Engaging with pornography has been a rite of passage in many teens' exploration of sex, but since the early days of the internet, their access to the digital world has stoked concerns from parents and caregivers. Some worry that kids will stumble across pornography when they're too young to understand it, and others are concerned that older teens' exposure to pornography will influence unrealistic or even dangerous representations of what healthy sexual relationships look like.

This new report explores how a demographically representative sample of teens in the United States engaged with or experienced pornography online, from how old they were when they first encountered it, to how it impacts their views on sex and sexual relationships. The report confirms that the majority of teen respondents age 13–17 have watched pornography online—and some have seen it by age 10 or younger. And while some have discovered it accidentally, a significant number of teens said they were viewing online pornography intentionally on a regular basis.

Read more:
https://www.commonsensemedia.org/research/teens-and-pornography

Sextortion

It is so important that youth and teens, no matter what their sexual orientation or gender identity, and their parents become more aware of the pretexts, tactics, and strategies being used specific to the clear and present threat of online sextortion. As Sun Tzu, a wise and ancient Chinese warrior once stated, “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.”

It has been our experience that there are two categories of sextortion when it comes to youth and teens:

Read more:

Sextortion - The White Hatter
https://thewhitehatter.ca/sextortion/

Instagram: Updates to the Sensitive Content Control

The Sensitive Content Control has only two options for teens: “Standard” and “Less.” New teens on Instagram under 16 years old will be defaulted into the “Less” state. For teens already on Instagram, we will send a prompt encouraging them to select the “Less” experience.

This will make it more difficult for young people to come across potentially sensitive content or accounts in Search, Explore, Hashtag Pages, Reels, Feed Recommendations and Suggested Accounts.

Read more: https://about.instagram.com/blog/announcements/updates-to-the-sensitive-content-control

Guide to Teen Sextortion Scams

Sextortion Plots Target Teens, Especially Boys 14-17

The FBI has reported a “huge increase” in sextortion scams targeting young people, both from strangers and people they know. Read how to prevent it and recover from it in ConnectSafely's new Guide to Teen Sextortion Scams.  

https://www.connectsafely.org/sextortion/

Are Youth Sexting Rates Still on the Rise? A Meta-analytic Update

 

This meta-analysis of sexting research (28 studies, 58k youth) found pooled prevalence rates of 19% sending, 35% receiving, and 15% forwarding nudes without consent. Higher than we'd like (but this is our reality). We agree rates have likely plateaued. https://t.co/lYrQm8cAql pic.twitter.com/qpLwiGWOSj

— Sameer Hinduja (@hinduja) August 1, 2022

Guide to Teen Sextortion Scams

@ConnectSafely guide to Teen Sextortion is out. Numbers are much higher than I would have expected and impact can be devastating. Important reading for #Parents. 

What is sextortion?

Sextortion is a serious crime where someone threatens to distribute nude or compromising images for gain, usually financial or sexual (i.e., wanting more images or contact). Sextortion cases for financial reasons targeting teens, according to former Internet Crimes Against Children Commander Joe Laramie, are on the rise and are often perpetrated by organized crime operating outside the country.

Read more:

Guide to Teen Sextortion Scams - ConnectSafely
https://www.connectsafely.org/sextortion/

TikTok is soon releasing "Content Levels"

TikTok is soon releasing "Content Levels" which will restrict some types of mature content from being viewed by younger users, and another tool to filter out videos w/ certain keywords or hashtags.

"Today, we're announcing new features and technologies that will help viewers customize their viewing preferences and continue to have a safe and entertaining experience on TikTok."

More ways for our community to enjoy what they love | TikTok Newsroom https://newsroom.tiktok.com/en-us/more-ways-for-our-community-to-enjoy-what-they-love

Taking a One-Week Break from Social Media Improves Well-Being, Depression, and Anxiety

Taking a One-Week Break from Social Media Improves Well-Being, Depression, and Anxiety: A Randomized Controlled Trial | Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/cyber.2021.0324

Digital Civility Challenge

Digital Civility Index & Our Challenge | Microsoft Online Safety 
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/online-safety/digital-civility

Improving Well-Being Online

 

For Safer Internet Day this year, ConnectSafely spoke to parents, educators and young people across the country to find out what’s on their minds when it comes to online safety and wellbeing in 2022. We took the questions and concerns — and a few of our own — to experts in online safety, parenting, bullying prevention, security, and executives at popular apps like Instagram, TikTok, and Roblox. The results were some great conversations with a wealth of advice and insights. To spark discussion at home and school, each video includes discussion prompts. We hope you’ll find these resources helpful for encouraging positive, productive discussions about online wellness on Safer Internet Day and all year long.

https://saferinternetday.us/get-involved/

Is This Facebook Email a Fake?

Verifying that an email came from Facebook is incredibly simple, but only if you know where to look. It's too bad that Facebook seems to be sending legitimate mail that raises these flags. Just how do you determine if an email that seems to be from Facebook is legitimate? The best security suites are good at detecting phishing emails, but what if you want to check a particularly tricky message for yourself? This article shows you how. 

| PCMag https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/is-this-facebook-email-a-fake

FOSI | Digital Reputation Checklist

No matter your age, whenever you are online, your digital reputation is being established. That reputation, or digital footprint, is an insight into who you are. What you say, post, like, or share all make up what others will see as you go through life. And believe it or not, even a thumbs up or thumbs down emoji at the right (or wrong) time, might say a lot about you.

By using tools like our Digital Reputation Checklist, you can take control of your online persona and maintain a positive image of who you are – whether you just joined a platform recently or are well-versed in social media.

Source: https://www.fosi.org/good-digital-parenting-tool/digital-reputation-checklist

Apps that track

Perfection is an illusion

 

Three Instagram updates to protect people from racism and abuse on Instagram.

 

Today we’re announcing three updates to protect people from racism and abuse on Instagram. We don’t allow hate speech or bullying on our platform, and we hope these new tools will help protect people from having to experience abuse.

— Adam Mosseri 😷 (@mosseri) August 11, 2021

Twitter Lets Users Retroactively Change Who Can Reply to Tweets

Building on a 2020 feature that lets users choose who can reply when composing a message, this update could prove especially useful for folks whose posts receive unexpected attention or unwanted responses. Simply tap on the three-dot menu in the upper right corner of a tweet to modify the "Change who can reply" option. The function, according to Mashable, is rolling out globally on iOS, Android, and the web.

Learn more: 

https://www.pcmag.com/news/twitter-lets-users-retroactively-change-who-can-reply-to-tweets

Try the free Family Link parental controls app from Google

Whether your children are younger or in their teens, the Family Link app lets you set digital ground rules remotely from your own device to help guide them as they learn, play, and explore online. For children under 13 (or the applicable age of consent in your country), Family Link also lets you create a Google Account for your child that's like your account, with access to most Google services.

Teaching Internet Safety to Young Kids: Into the Cloud™

Source: https://www.missingkids.org/netsmartz/intothecloud#usingintothecloud

Teaching Internet Safety to Young Kids: The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children has released season two of Netsmartz’s "Into the Cloud," a series of videos to educate children ages 10 and under about Internet safety. While season one addressed reporting unsafe and inappropriate interactions and content, season two addresses online exploitation, reporting and removing online inappropriate content. 

Using Into the Cloud™

Each episode of Into the Cloud™ is between 3-6 minutes long, making them ideal for a variety of environments, from technology class to afterschool and home use.

Each episode has a corresponding discussion guide that can be used in one-on-one and small group settings.

Additionally, classroom activities on the themes of trust, identity, and reputation are available for use with the complete first season.

Keep kids engaged after the episodes with "Cloud Chaos!" the Into the Cloud™ game, available online and in the app store.

The Effectiveness of Safe Surfing, an Anti-Cyberbullying Intervention Program

Abstract: Schools have been fighting cyberbullying through intervention programs, yet few interventions have been empirically evaluated. This study evaluates the effectiveness of a Safe Surfing anti-cyberbullying intervention program that is based on the theory of planned behavior in reducing bullying online and offline and improving student-perceived popularity and self-esteem. It was hypothesized that from pre- to post-intervention online and offline bullying rates will decrease; students’ negative perception of popularity will decrease; students’ self-esteem will increase, and; in classrooms where there has been a greater decrease in online and offline bullying following the intervention there will be a greater improvement in students’ negative perception of popularity and self-esteem. Data were collected from 1,550 students (53% males) in 3rd to 11th grades from 69 classes in 19 primary (68%), middle and high (32%) public schools in Israel. The students answered online questionnaires pre- and post-intervention. Results indicated a significant decrease in bullying online and offline post-intervention. Also, a significant improvement in perceived popularity and self-esteem was obtained among primary school students. The decrease in bullying online and offline was significantly associated with an improvement in perceived popularity and self-esteem. The study provides support for the positive role that school-based interventions against cyberbullying can have, and demonstrates that schools can make a difference in the way their students consume social networks. The findings also contribute to the debate about the co-occurrence between traditional bullying and cyberbullying. The findings may encourage school principals to approach peer victimization with a broader view and to develop intervention programs that capture students’ social experiences more holistically.

Read more: The effectiveness of safe surfing, an anti-cyberbullying intervention program in reducing online and offline bullying and improving perceived popularity and self-esteem | Aizenkot | Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace

https://cyberpsychology.eu/article/view/12580/11569

Data refute President’s linkage between violent video games & mass shootings

President Trump links recent mass shootings with violent video games.

by Larry Magid

Scroll down for podcast interview with Dr. Christopher Ferguson

In his address to the nation following a weekend of two mass shootings, President Trump made a reference to violent video games, suggesting that these games may have something to do with shootings such as the ones that took place in El Paso and Akron.

Read more: https://www.connectsafely.org/violent-video-games-and-mass-shootings/