Youth Culture and New Technologies - Risks

Developed by KCB336 New Media Technologies students in the Creative Industries Faculty, QUT.

Risks

Risks are defined by Dictionary.com as the possibilities of suffering harm, loss or been put into danger. Developments in new technologies are constantly occurring with people today been able to; e-mail, play games, communicate, download and transfer data on both computers and mobile devices (such as Mobile Phones and personal organisers). These developments in technology offer astounding opportunities for businesses, government services, education and law enforcement (Reid 2005, 89). However despite benefits associated with these developments vulnerable sectors of society such as children and youths face risks from their expansion. Such risks as discussed in Reid (2005, 89) include; bullying, illegal images, pressurising advertisements, harmful or inappropriate information and also predatory paedophiles.

Current Issues

Today a large percentage of children are connected to the Internet and are communicating in ways that are unknown by adults or that are away from their supervision. In an Internet Report conducted in 2003 by the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) it was estimated that 91% of kids 12 – 15 years old and almost all teens (99%) aged 16 – 18 used the Internet. In a survey of 1566 school students, conducted by i-SAFE America, the results identified that:

• 57% of students had hurtful things said to them.
• 35% said that they had been threatened online.
• 42% said that they had been bullied online.
• 20% had been receiving mean or threatening emails.
• 58% had not told their parents or an adult.

Currently computers and the Internet play growing roles in sex crimes which are committed against children and youths. As discussed in Keith & Martin (2005, 224) in a survey conducted by the Crimes against Children Research Centre at the University of New Hampshire it was found that:

• 19% of children surveyed received unwanted sexual solicitation.
• 6% of those surveyed experienced harassing incidents, including threats, rumours or other offensive behaviour.
• 2% reported having episodes of distressing harassment that they described making them feel very upset or afraid.

However youths are not only at risk from bullies and predators over the Internet as they are also at risk of developing a range of addictive behavioural patterns as a result of Online Games and Online Gambling (Griffiths & Wood 2000, 199). Through various research programs undertaken it has been shown that excessive involvement with video games, the Internet and Online Gambling may bring problems to the individual concerned with these problems intensifying when the individual is and adolescent (Griffiths & Wood 2000, 199).

Preventative Measures

Some advice for children and youths which will help them deal with unwanted attention of strangers and bullies on the Internet, as described in Keith & Martin (2005, 228), are:

• Never share or give out personal information, PIN numbers or phone numbers etc.
• Tell a trusted adult.
• Don’t read messages from cyber bullies and / or strangers.
• Don’t delete messages they can be used to take action.
• Bullying and unwanted attention through instant messages or chat rooms can be blocked.
• Don’t open messages from someone you don’t know.
• Do not reply to the person messaging you.

Further Information

See Also:

• Youth Culture and New Technologies
• Youth Culture and New Technologies - Cyberbullying
• Youth Culture and New Technologies - Gaming Behaviors.

References

Crimes Against Children Research Centre. 2003. Internet Sex Crimes Against Minors: The Response of Law Enforcement. www.protectkids.com/dangers/InternetCrimesAgainstChildrenOJJDPstudy2003.pdf (accessed October 20, 2005, ProQuest database).

Griffiths, M. and R. Wood. 2000. Risk Factors in Adolescence: The Case of Gambling, Videogame Playing and the Internet. Journal of Gambling Studies, 16(2-3) 199 (accessed September 28, 2005, from ProQuest database).

Keith, S. and M. Martin. 2005. Cyber-Bullying: Creating a Culture of Respect in a Cyber World. Reclaiming Children and Youth, 13(4) 224-228 (accessed September 28, 2005, from ProQuest database).

Reid, A. S. 2005. Rise of Third Generation Phones: The Implication for Child Protection. Information and Communication Technology Law, 14(2) 89- (accessed September 29, 2005, from ProQuest database).

--Alicia Michelle Machin 23:53, 3 Oct 2005 (EST) --Alicia Michelle Machin 14:24, 25 Oct 2005 (EST)