Youth Matters: Alternatives for Youth's Blog: No "Kid"ding . . . Teens and the Internet

Did You Know? Computers and the Internet are incredible, modern day tools that have revolutionalized our lives and how we work, play and learn. They are more and more readily available and used by young people even as the Internet and how our youth use it pose various threats. Did you know:

American teens are more wired now than ever before. According to a recent survey, 93% of all Americans age 12-17 use the internet. In 2004, 87% were internet users, and in 2000, 73% of teens went online.
65% of high school students admit to unsafe, inappropriate, or illegal activities online.
Risks to children, particularly teenagers, in cyberspace include exposure to unwanted contact with sexual material (1 in 3 youth) and harassment (1 in 11 youth).
In a survey conducted by the Intelligence Group, Dateline questioned 500 teenagers across the country, ages 14-18, about their computer habit. When asked if someone they've met online has wanted to meet them in person, 58% said "yes" and 29% said they've had a "scary" experience online.
30% of teenage girls polled by the Girl Scout Research Institute said they had been sexually harassed in a chatroom. Only 7%, however, told their mothers or fathers about the harassment because they were worried that their parents would ban them from going online.
Just as parents are key to teaching kids about "stranger danger," parents are key to protecting kids while they are online. Some simple things you can do include: focus on the children's behavior rather than the technology; be aware of what children are doing online and to whom they are talking; keep the computer in a family area; stay engaged as children get older; and help teenagers learn how to keep themselves safe.