Nearly half of all kids online have been approached by someone they thought was attempting to befriend and manipulate them.
New research from Thorn, a technology non-for-profit dedicated to defending children from online sexual abuse, also reveals tweens, aged between nine and 12, believe that flirting or dating adults they meet online is common among their age group.
The study, Online Grooming: Examining risky encounters amid everyday digital socialization, finds that the traditional ‘stranger danger’ approach to digital safety education is out of touch with how young people tend to view their interactions online.
Roughly one in three young people said friends they made online were among their closest confidants.
Thorn’s latest study builds on its earlier research examining the experiences of young people who shared explicit imagery (‘nudes’) of themselves.
The research explores young people’s attitudes and experiences with making friends and flirting online, and how minors respond to online threats of manipulation, grooming, and abuse.
“While online socialization and exploration offers young people the opportunity to connect over shared interests and provides critical support, the anonymity also gives the opportunity for bad actors to build false friendships, isolate, and victimize youth,” said Thorn CEO Julie Cordua.
“The importance of online relationships for children is only going to continue as new platforms for virtual socialization develop, which is exactly why we urge parents and caregivers to have open and honest conversations with their children about what they are doing online. ”
Summary of findings:
* One in four 9-12-year-olds saw it as normal for kids their age to date adults aged 18-20. This group also reported flirting with or dating older adults aged 21-29, and adults age 30 or older, at similar rates.
* Two in five minors (40 percent) said they’d been approached online by someone they believe was attempting ‘to befriend and manipulate’ them, with 47 percent of teen girls saying they had experienced this.
* Forty percent of minors have experienced cold solicitations for nudes online, including roughly one in four (28 percent) 9-12-year-olds. Many who have experienced it claim it wasn’t a frequent experience, but around one in seven (14 percent) reported this as a weekly or daily experience.
* Online-only contacts often ask young people to move conversations from public platforms to private chats, increasing the vulnerability and opportunities for abuse. Nearly two in three (65 percent) said they had experienced this.
* Roughly one in eight (12 percent) minors surveyed qualified as individuals at higher risk for online exploitation based on their sharing behaviors with online-only contacts. Thirty percent of all LGBTQ+ minors surveyed fell into this category, as well as 20 percent of all 15-17-year-olds, and 18 percent of all teen girls.
The study also showed that where kids learned about grooming mattered. Those young people considered at high risk of being groomed were far less likely to have learned about online grooming from their parents or caregivers than other minors.
The study also notes that platforms, including private messaging services, must evolve how they understand and approach online grooming.
