From the Expert Series:
One of Many, Online Exploitation of Youth
Jane Straub, Training Director
As adults it is imperative for us to understand grooming behaviors that are meant to harm youth, recognize behaviors in young people that may indicate distress and most importantly take measures to intervene and support youth when they may find themselves in an overwhelming situation.
The recent case of Yue Vang, who had more than 1,100 victims across the globe, should alert us that this can happen to anyone. Not only were the 1,100 victims one of many, but Vang is also one of many who take advantage of and exploit our youth.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) received more than 29.3 million reports of suspected child sexual exploitation in 2022. This is an increase of 35% from 2020 and another indicator that increased screen time during Covid-19 had negative effects on children and adolescents. Increased screen time has also been shown to have a negative impact on mental health and sleep.
Please take a minute to breathe. We can and must have conversations with children and adolescents in our lives. We need to create moments in our busy lives to listen. Youth are experts in technology. Unfortunately, a brain under construction does lend itself to risk taking and not being able to accurately identify threats. One example is sexting: sharing nude, semi-nude, or sexually explicit pictures or videos. According to Thorn, 1 in 6 youth surveyed between the ages of 9 to 17 had shared a nude image. https://www.thorn.org/blog/youth-continue-sharing-sg-csam/
Here are some steps that you can take to increase communication and decrease risk.
Make dedicated time to have conversations about technology. Let your youth show you apps, sites, networks and videos that they use. Discuss the pros and cons of each.
Let your child know that there is nothing that they can say or do that will stop you from loving them.
Let your child know that there may be things that happen, mistakes that occur or perhaps even a bad decision, but that there is no problem so big that cannot be worked out together.
Become familiar with experts in technology and mental health such as NCMEC www.missingkids.org and Youth.Gov https://youth.gov/youth-topics/youth-mental-health
Please join us for a FREE webinar on Wednesday August 23, 2023 “Recognize and Protect: Online Exploitation” to learn about protecting youth. Join us all week for additional learning opportunities from CornerHouse.
