75% of Teens Don’t Tell Parents About Negative Online Experiences
How much are teens really telling their parents about their online experiences with the opposite sex? Not much as 75% of teens would not tell their parents about negative experiences online.
More and more teens are online today than ever, and more and more are sharing their personal lives over the online medium of social media. 95% of teens are online with 80% participating actively in social media, namely social networks. Social Networks like Facebook provide a place to share personal photos, thoughts, and communicate with friends and sometimes even strangers.
The communication though is not always pleasant or wanted. 23% of all teens online have experienced some form of unwanted attention from the opposite sex, which made them feel uncomfortable, pressured, or even threatened. The question though is, what happens after these teens have experienced this behavior? Well, 75% of the time it goes unreported to parents of said teens.
1/3 of the teens utilizing social media do so for dating and relationship purposes. This 1/3 of teens using social media for love are putting their love lives and personal data out there for public attention, positive or negative.
Why would teens not be telling their parents about negative online experiences, unwanted attention, or even explicit behavior? For starters, teens don’t necessarily like talking to their parents about negative online experiences, let alone if it is sex-related. Personal and revealing subjects which could potentially lead to reprimand and harsh criticism by parents such as sex and online behavior is usually reserved for friends and peers, not parents for that very reason.
Sometimes direct confrontations of such topics are not the way to go for most teens. Leading into a discussion about dating and sex issues related to online behavior by relating them to your teen’s interests or current events, role models, etc. can help facilitate discussion and make your teen relate to you and the issue more easily.
Apart from dating and sex related issues online, namely through social networks, monitoring and discussing your teen’s online behavior is important as well. Here are some tips on how to do just that:
- Monitor what your teen is searching and where they are going online
- Becoming friends with your teen over social networks or following them (Twitter) is an easy and non-invasive way to monitor their social network behavior and friends
- Address online behavior offline, don’t use their Facebook wall or Twitter, for example, to discuss bad behavior or red flags
- Look for red flags before and after online time
- Changes in behavior
- Excessive time spent online and on social networks
- Teens acting distant and avoiding details
- Acting guilty when confronted about online behavior and actions
Safe Eyes can help you monitor your child’s online behavior and filter out content, even control the amount of time your child is allotted online. For more information about Safe Eyes software and Internet safety tips for parents and their children, visit internetsafety.com
Sources:
Study and Relevant Statistics – Provided by McAfee
Read more: 75% of Teens Don’t Tell Parents About Negative Online Experiences
Incoming search terms