Health, Safety, and Netiquette

Web safety is on most worrisome parents' minds when it comes to their children being on the internet. Are they stumbling onto inappropriate things that they shouldn't? Are they going to be stalked by some creepy person who's going to lure them out and kidnap them?  It has become a great concern to teach children how to use the internet properly and intelligently. As such, safety and netiquette need to be taught to those venturing onto the ever increasingly accessible internet starting in school at young ages. Cyberbullying, as mentioned in previous posts, is a form of bullying done through forms of technology as a way of distancing the victim from the bully, making it much easier to dole out insults and ridicule. Cyberbullying has been seen to overlap with traditional bullying. So one hasn't replaced the other, both tend to happen. However, cyberbullying can have more inadvertent negative outcomes such as contributing to depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation, more-so than with traditional bullying. Perhaps this is due to the nature of the bullying in that it feels like something that can't be escaped. Technology and ways to reach social media are all around us now, even if you turn off your computer, what's to stop a text then? It's unreasonable to think that adolescents can just shed themselves of any technology or social media. Adolescents need to be taught coping strategies and social media netiquette in order to feel prepared when things happen that might be hard to deal with. Or to prevent it from happening in the first place, they should be reminded that there are real people with real feelings at the other end of that messaging board or text message. I think sometimes it's hard for teens to put themselves in another's shoes, so netiquette should be taught to help with that while using social media.

Here is a video of Korean school children learning about netiquette and internet use.

Safety is also a concern with young people and their phones, which have become as attached to the young adult as an extra limb. Dangerous behaviors such as texting and driving is fairly common to young people. Although most agree that it is dangerous and should be illegal, most adolescents and emerging adults have also admitted to doing it. Researchers found that those that have permissive attitudes towards these behaviors was related to increased recklessness and that those lower in mindfulness reported more frequent texting while driving. So what gets them to stop? It was found that only past behavior predicted intentions to both send and read texts while driving. So, really, only if it caused them a problem. Adolescents were most focussed on the norms, which is that, well, everyone texts and drives, so it must be ok. These dangerous behaviors pose a risk that should be discussed. The campaign to stop it is going in a direction that is simply not hitting adolescents where it counts and this should be reviewed.

Sexting is another issue that teens and emerging adults commonly face that relates to their relationships and how they use their phones. Here is a short clip summarizing the issues involving sexting.

It's important for young people to think about how and why they are sexting, not just that they are doing it, considering those in healthy relationships also sext. However, it can also be for other reasons that are not so healthy. Those who sext should check in with their comfort levels and make sure they feel safe and secure in their relationship.