The Safety Of Adolescents While Using The Internet

The Internet is quickly and widely diffusing into society as a whole, especially into families, as a result, a large proportion of adolescents have access to and make use of the Internet daily, (where adolescence refers to the teenage years of a person’s life). Statistically speaking, surveys conducted by the YISS (Youth Internet Safety Survey) state that, 95 percent of adolescents studied have used the internet at least once in their lives and 83 percent of the adolescents surveyed have access to the internet at home. This much exposure and unhindered access to the internet warrants exploration for adolescents, more understandably a means of answering every question that may come to their young minds. The safety of adolescents while using†¦show more content†¦Because, there is no proper mode or means of verification of personalities when making an account on a website there is a strong possibility for any individual to attempt online impersonation, this can have a lo ng term effect on the person whose personality has been adapted or compromised as impersonation can be a very significant weapon or tool for harassing people and committing cybercrimes in the name of other persons. Looking at the age group being the discussed the main intention of an impersonator is usually to bully a classmate using another person’s identity. Davis Michelle (2012) reported that, â€Å"two teenage girls were arrested in Florida and charged with cyber stalking after creating a fake Facebook page impersonating another student and using it to bully her. Students at an Indianapolis high school set up false Twitter accounts for their principal and tweeted offensive comments, before the account was shut down†. The two cases stated above show examples of how impersonation can jeopardize the safety of adolescents by playing both the perpetrator and the victim when impersonation is committed. Cyber-victimization as defined by â€Å"smith et al (2008)† is suffering from an aggressive, intentional act carried out by a group or individual, using electronic forms of contact, repeatedly or over time, and not having a possibility to easily defend oneself†. Cyber Bullying, usually the intention