Teens Suffering From Sexual Harassment
Girls Scouts of the USA has gathered some data on Internet-based harassment of teenage girls. The organization released a study in mid-February The Net Effect: Girls and New Media that surveyed 1,000 U.S. girls aged 13 to 18. Thirty percent of them said they've been sexually harassed in a chatroom, Wired News reports, adding that the harassment included unsolicited pictures of naked men, demands for personal details like bra size, and requests for "cyber sex." Other key findings include
- of the girls who said they were harassed, only 7 percent reported telling their parents what had happened
- 30 percent said they "didn't tell anyone" about the incidents
- 21 percent said that such harassment "happens all the time and is no big deal"
- more than 80 percent said they feel safe online
- when asked how they know what behavior on the Net is safe or unsafe, 84 percent cited their own common sense; 51 percent cited learning from parents; 46 percent cited television and the media; 29 percent cited teachers; 29 percent cited friends; and 4 percent said, "Nothing is that bad online because it is not really real"
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