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Media
Kit: Resist Media
Kit: Research Media
Kit: Software |
NEWS RELEASE Teens Need "Immunization" to Travel Safely on the Web San Francisco, CA - June 28, 2001 - A massive social immunization campaign to prepare teens and pre-teens to travel safely on the web is being proposed by national child safety expert, Alice Ray. Ray says two recent studies show the need for an immunization campaign to begin immediately and to include the same limited dose of information and skill training that has been shown effective in increasing kids' safety off line. The PEW Foundation study showed that the internet has become the primary socializing agent for teens, with 73% of kids 12-17 using it. The Mitchell, Finklehor and Wolak study showed that once they get on the net, a huge number of kids are being sexually accosted, often by adults posing as other kids. The net effect, says Ray, is to "normalize" and desensitize teens to behavior that is a serious problem on-line and off. Experts estimate at least one in four girls and one in seven boys will be sexually abused -off-line - before reaching adulthood. With 19% of kids in the Crimes Against Children research study reporting being accosted on-line just in the last year, Ray fears that improper sexual advances will become so normalized that kids will fail to recognize, resist, or report it, when it happens off line, let alone on-line. "I think we are seeing a massive sexual "abrasion" that can't help but desensitize today's kids. This puts them at greater risk of being victims of abuse, and also greater risk of becoming "numb" to sexuality in a similar way to how media saturation with violence has made us all increasingly numb to gun violence." "There is substantial evidence that kids' risk of being abused can be significantly reduced with effective strategies that include small doses of information and systematic training in key skills, including assertiveness, decision-making, managing feelings, asking for help, and empathy This is what we should be immunizing kids with immediately." "The good news is the benefits of such systematic training go far beyond internet safety. This is the stuff of emotional intelligence, that has also been linked to improved academic and workplace performance." Ray is President and CEO of Ripple Effects, a San Francisco based company that develops and supports social learning software, based on effective, prevention strategies. Prior to that she was head of Committee for Children, where she spearheaded development of child sexual abuse prevention and violence prevention materials now in about 100,000 classrooms across the country. She is a member of the Academic Advisory Council to the National Campaign Against Youth Violence, and has received multiple awards for her leadership in child safety, including a Presidential Letter of Commendation and a Distinguished Public Service Award from the Association of Federal Investigators. Ray, who recently authored CyberSavvy, a computer-based, internet Safety training program for McAfee.com, says "I've turned to technology, because it seems to me to offer the most scaleable way to get effective strategies to the most kids, the fastest. But what's important is not the platform for training - under the right conditions, print, video, software and live training can all be successful - rather it's that parents, schools and kids themselves recognize that before they go onto the web, they need a shot of prevention." |
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