US kids busy bullying, sexy texting
Mobile is weapon of choice for mean/horny teens
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A survey of 655 US teenagers aged 13 to 18 has revealed disturbing amounts of bullying going on via the mobile phone networks, despite the fact that most of them seem to understand the risks of sharing too much data online.
The Teen Online and Wireless Safety survey was carried out by Cox communications in conjunction with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Participants were asked a series of questions about their own involvement in sexually explicit messaging and cyber-bullying, as well as their attitudes towards the problems.
Almost a fifth of those sampled had either sent or received a message containing "a nude or nearly nude photograph", generally to girlfriends or boyfriends, though less than 10 per cent actually admitted initiating such messages - the rest received or forwarded messages. The most common reason given was for a laugh, though some claimed to be responding to requests from their other half.
Far more prevalent is cyber-bullying, which seems to carry a perceived lack of risk despite the fact that almost half of those who had been bullied on-line reported the miscreant getting caught. Unsurprisingly those bullied reckoned the bullies were just mean, while bullies claimed they were simply evening the score.
Equally representative of the real world was the overlap between those bullied and the bullies, with 34 per cent falling into both camps while only 12 per cent bullied without ever being on the receiving end. More cyber-specific, perhaps, is the preponderance of girls involved in over-the-air bullying, with 59 per cent of bullies being female.
When it comes to controlling internet access it seems parents aren't ready for the wireless revolution. While half of the teenagers questioned have restrictions on their internet use from a computer, only one in five reckoned their parents were even aware that they could access the internet from a mobile phone, and even the parents who were aware don't seem to be making any attempt to control the usage.
The report (pdf) concludes that all the attention paid to sexting is distracting people from the more important issue of cyber-bullying, without a trace of irony about creating the term "sexting" and the report's own focus on the more salacious aspects of the study.
But it also concludes that parents aren't equipped to manage their children's behaviour, so some other body should be prepared to step in and take control - which should prove a more controversial conclusion. ®
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COMMENTS
National Center for Missing and Exploiting Children
Although those results don't look unbelievable I'd like to point out, for those who may not know, just what NCMEC is.
It's the US version of a quango, funded by the government, but supposedly not part of it. They have what is probably one of the worlds largest collections of child porn. They have a hotline for reporting suspected child sexual abuse, but they specifically reject reports of intra-family molestation, which as you probably know is the most common kind.
They claim they help find missing children, but in reality their primary business is aiding in the capture and return of minors who escape from their owners, I mean parents. Never mind that they may have run away for a *very* good reason. Think about it.
Title
"and even the parents who were aware don't seem to be making any attempt to control the usage."
We're talking about 13-18 year olds here, right? While 13 may be a little young, by the time a teen is 18, you can damn well bet I'm not going to be "making any attempt to control their internet usage."
The fact is, I was 15 years old when I left home for school, was exposed to all sorts of freaks and deviants on the net, and came out just fine. After a certain age, it all comes down to how you raised the kid, not how well you can keep them locked in a padded box.
-d
No brainer
Is anyone surprised that teens are still acting like teens? So they have a new medium to play with.
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