Did you know that:

• 96% of teen boys and 95% of teen girls use the internet.
• 77% of 12-17 year olds have a cell phone and 74% have a desktop or laptop computer.
• Facebook is the most popular social networking site across all ages, gender and ethnic groups of teens.
• In a study of 1,409 middle-school students, researchers found that online searching for information helps boost exam scores.

Tip:

• Maximize the benefits of the internet by using it to get people involved with important issues or fundraisers, creating innovative learning projects in school, or to stay in contact with friends and family who live farther away.

Did you know that:

• 82% of parents polled considered themselves very knowledgeable about their tween’s online activities. However, 44% of tweens admitted to looking at or watching something online that their parents would not have approved and 34% stated they had lied to parents about what they have done online.
• The average family uses five internet-enabled devices at home.

Tip:

• Encourage young adolescents to balance time on the internet with outside activities, sports, and/or social events. It is also useful to discuss appropriate boundaries around what they will or won’t share with others on the internet.

Did you know that:

• Teens recall their parents giving them internet safety advice and also view their parents as having the most influence on their internet behaviors – over peers and teachers.
• Facebook usage might provide greater benefits for users experiencing low self-esteem and low life satisfaction.

Tip:

• These three elements cover the essentials for encouraging healthy internet use: A young person who has the right balance, maintains a good set of online boundaries, and has regular communication with a trusted adult about his or her internet experiences has all he or she needs to be a safe and happy internet user.

Did you know that:

• 1 in 3 youth report unintentionally being exposed to sexual material online, and 1 in 7 report receiving unwanted sexual solicitations.
• 54% of social networking site profiles of 18 year olds included references to sexual content, substance use or violence.

Tip:

• I think all of us have found sites/images that we wish we hadn’t! Let your kids know how easily this can happen and that way they don’t feel guilty or so curious that they want to see more. Explain that many websites are simply not safe for kids (or adults!).

Did you know that:

• 25% of youth have been asked to take provocative sexual pictures of themselves.
• Only 5% of online sexual predators pretended to be teens themselves when inviting teens to participate in sexual behaviors.

Tip:

• Remember that while some teens are naïve about the dangers of the internet, others are not and simply need help making the connection that these dangers could happen to them.

Did you know that:

• The best estimate is that about one-third of young people experience cyberbullying.
• Girls more often report being victims of cyberbullying and boys more often report being bullies.

Tip:

• You can encourage your teen to stop and think about what she is communicating online and whether or not it would be something she would say in public or in face-to-face interactions.

Did you know that:

• 97% of US college students report ownership of a social networking site profile.
• Approximately 41 percent of older adolescents’ profiles displayed references to substance use, 24 percent displayed references to sex, and 14 percent displayed references to violence.

Tip:

• Once in awhile, view a profile of a friend of your child together with your child. Discuss different information that is displayed and ask your child what information you think is safe or unsafe. One parent described to us that using the profile of a peer, rather than your own child’s profile as an example can help the conversation focus more on safety and less about defensiveness.

Did you know that:

• Problematic Internet Use can lead to an increased risk of depression symptoms, ADHD symptoms, excessive daytime sleepiness, and even an increased risk for problem alcohol use.
• Problematic Internet Use has lead to deaths of young adults in Asia.

Tip:

• A potential conversation starter you can use with your teen about problematic internet use:
  "Look, I know that it is normal for teens your age to be on the internet a lot. But I’ve noticed in the past few months that you are spending increasing hours in your room alone on the computer. This has me worried. I don’t want you to miss out on all the other things out there that the world has to offer you. There is something called problematic internet use, which is when someone uses the internet too much or has an inappropriate attachment to being on the internet. Given what I’ve just told you, do you think we should be worried about your internet use?"

Did you know that:

• Male college students who viewed sexual references on Facebook expected more sexual behaviors from the individual who displays these references.
• Despite being tech-savvy college students, the participants in our focus groups were generally unaware of any legal consequences that could occur using social networking sites.

Tip:

• Tell your teen to treat their online identity like they would their offline identity. Let them know they can stay true to who they are. Encourage them to ask themselves before posting a comment to question if they would say something like this to a person they just met. Practicing these reminders and little thoughts are the first steps in helping them leave a digital footprint that is positive. These measures will promote balance and integration of your child’s online and offline persona.

Did you know that:

• References to either stress or depression were displayed publicly on over 25 percent of young adults’ Facebook profiles.
• Today about 50 percent of adolescent women and 33 percent of adolescent men are unhappy with their weight; further, about 70 percent of adolescent men are unhappy with the size of their muscles.

Tip:

• As feelings are a sensitive topic, many parents may have concerns about how to bring up these conversations. Many teens have suggested to us that an approach that is inquisitive, that is, asking questions, rather than assuming or judging is helpful to the teen so that he or she feels comfortable opening up.

Did you know that:

• College students who have talked to their parents about any topic, not just alcohol, on a given day are likely to consume less alcohol on that day.
• Almost three-quarters of freshmen college students’ parents have Facebook accounts and are friends with their college student kids and less than a quarter of college students block their parents from seeing content on Facebook.

Tip:

• Creating a Facebook account and “friending” your teen is a decision each parent must make based on their own views and values. It may help to discuss this decision with your teen and gauge how they would feel about you entering “their” world of social media.

Did you know that:

• Now students can use mashing and linking to demonstrate analysis, and blogging, wiki-ing, and podcasting to demonstrate evaluation or creation skills. Edublogs, an education blogging service offers free blogs for students as well as campus blog clouds to support student teacher learning by facilitating reflection, questioning, and collaboration. Wikisineducation allows students and teachers to create wikis to share resources and ideas.
• Many of the parents and community members that we talked to emphasized that online safety is not a job that should fall solely to teachers, parents, or any individual group—it should be a multisystem approach, coming from many different directions.

Tip:

• Use the influence of peers to help your teen stay safe on the Internet. When the advice is coming from someone near your child’s age or from a peer that they look up to, staying safe online is more likely to be viewed as “the cool thing to do” rather than another thing they are being nagged to do by a parent or adult.

Did you know that:

• Kids who get the chance to sign-on to a cool site for the first time may be blinded at this new experience and more vulnerable to safety issues then.
• College students may have a little more understanding and control, but at the same time may feel invincible - and therefore make mistakes, thinking “Oh it would never happen to me”.

Tip:

• Dr. Lindsay Thompson’s perspective on Internet safety: “Younger children are more prone to predatory behaviors, so I would limit their interaction with social media. However, as they get older, they should be allowed more affordances, hopefully having obtained judgment of when to ask parents or other adults for help with online interactions, even with the health care system.”