In the article, Internet Violence and Cyberthreats, a recent study reported by CNN, “about half of teens with a MySpace account had posts claiming that they engaged in risky behaviors, including acts of violence and self harm” (Internet Violence and Cyberthreats).

What are the Daily Actions of Teens?

Though teens sometimes deny their actions to get attention, when they received optimistic feedback from other teens about their posts it stimulates some of them to act on their claims. The US Secret Service published a report on their findings about school shootings in the United States, and in it they found that “teens who were involved in school shootings usually told other teens beforehand what they were planning. In many recent attacks on schools and other public places the shooter had previously posted concerning information on the Internet, but in most cases no one had reported the information. Some potential shootings have been stopped because teens told an adult about the threats they saw online” (Internet Violence and Cyberthreats).

Young Students Turning to the Internet

The Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine at the University of Zurich, the Psychosomatics and Psychiatry Department at Zurich's University Children's Hospital and the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at University Hospital Zurich discovered that “sexual abuse is alarmingly widespread in a representative sample of more than 6,000 9th grade students in Switzerland” (University of Zurich). This article was very interesting, because it tailored young adults focusing on their issues with the internet. One of the key statistics the article presented was how, among the study participants, most commonly among those that were 15 and 17 years old, about 40 percent of girls and 17 percent of boys reported they had experienced at least one type of child sexual abuse on the internet (University of Zurich).

Citation:

Willard, N. (n.d.). Responding to the Challenge of Online Social Aggression, Threats, and Distress. Retrieved October 10, 2020, from https://www.researchpress.com/books/495/cyberbullying-and-cyberthreats