The Advisory Committee to the Congressional Internet Caucus assembled several researchers who focus on online victimization with the intent of informing congressional decision making. The hour and one-half sessions is available from the link and the site also identifies key papers from the presenters.
The general conclusion might be that public perception is off target.
Some descriptive statements from the presentation:
- Seldom young victims (most are teenagers).
- Small percentage involve violence or abduction.
- Seldom involve deception. Most are clear about sexual intentions. Multiple meetings for sex.
These findings have important implications for intervention – need to target teenagers, not teachers or parents (except to get them to talk to teenagers). The core problem is not about giving out personal information, having a blog, etc. Rather, predictors involve being willing to talk about sex online and going to sex sites. The situation is more like convincing teenagers not to engage in other risky behaviors (drinking, smoking).
