Cyber Harassment of Teens

Over a third of teenage girls have been sexually harrassed via the Internet according to a survey conducted in Australia's 'Girlfriend' magazine.

The results of the survey were released at a national conference on bullying in Melbourne on the weekend (3/4th November 2007). As reported in Melbourne's The Age Victoria Police cyber-safety specialist Susan McLean said cyber-bullying is the number one safety problem confronting young people, ahead of drug use.

In many ways this report supports what many professionals have suspected for some time - that modern parents are out of touch with what is happening to children online. Many of us think we know what kids get up to online but the reality is far from the truth.

Some parents think that the cyber world is basically harmless for young people. This cavalier attitude is akin to parental neglect. The survey found that 41 per cent of girls had been asked in one form or another to post naked pictures of themselves online. The cyberworld is far from a safe place.

Young people have always wanted to escape from their parents' world. In the past they hung out in shopping centres and pool halls. Parents tried their best to keep an eye on where their children were and what they were doing. Expectations about appropriate behaviours, known home times and accountability were some of the tools of trade parents used to keep an eye on kids' in the off-line world.

The online world is now the shopping mall of the 21st Century. Parents have the same responsibility to help kids stay safe in the online world as they do in the real world. 'Stranger danger' and accompanying safe behaviours are just as relevant in the online world as they are in the real world.

Parents can use the same offline preventative strategies to maximise their children's online safety - that is, let their expectations be known; don't let them spend all night in the cyberworld; and ask questions about what they are doing and where they go when they're online.

These offline strategies are only the tip of the parenting iceberg. Parents should discuss their concerns about online activity with children and young people. They need to remind kids that things in the online world can spin out of control very quickly. A written message or an image can be circulated electronically so rapidly that the scope and scale of cyberbullying can be greater than any other form of bullying.

The following seven key messages form the basis of an online safety strategy for kids. They should be taught to kids so they become second nature, just as the messages about stranger danger were absorbed by an earlier generaion.

The seven key cybersafety messages are:

1. Respect others - be aware what you send can offend.

2. Think before you send - know that you are in a very public and permanent forum.

3. Treat passwords like your house key - keep them guarded at all times.

4. Block bullies - learn how to block or report online bullies.

5. Don't reply to harrassment - bullies can retain proof of your response, which can further be spread around.

6. Save the evidence - learn how to keep pictures and offending messages.

7. Tell someone - a trusted adult, provider of the service and/or your school.


Sticking the proverbial head in the sand regarding kids' use of communications technology is no longer an option for parents. Savvy parents need to learn as much as they can about children's and young people's online lives so they can respond to situations appropriately.

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