Early Adolescents: A Vulnerable Group to Cyber Dating Abuse - Essay Sample

Introduction

The world is evolving at a rapid rate, which puts early adolescents at risk of becoming cybercrime victims. Cyber dating abuse is increasingly becoming rampant, especially among early adolescents. Unlike physical dating violence, which is known to many, the perpetration of cyber dating abuse is less popular. Researchers have not given sufficient attention to the prevalence and correlates of the perpetration of cyber dating abuse among early adolescents (Peskin et al., 2016). Therefore, it is important to examine two major correlates that will be paramount in designing a well-informed intervention in an attempt to alleviate the growing issue.

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Parent-child communication about social media is an essential correlate of the perpetration of cyber dating abuse. Parents need to raise awareness in their children about the dangers of social media. The selection of this correlate is guided by the fact that nearly all school going children have access to the Internet in their homes. More importantly, a significant percentage of both high school and middle school goers own mobile phones. Since most parents are busy with their occupations, they fail to create time with their children to discuss appropriate usage of the social media. Consequently, the innocent children find themselves either victims or perpetrators of cyber dating abuse (Peskin et al., 2016). Therefore, parental closeness and frequent communication about the social media are vital in arming school going children with information that will distance them from the perpetration of cyber dating abuse.

Ideally, the absence of the parent leads to changes in the behaviors of the children. It shocks parents when they learn of the most unexpected behaviors in their children. Therefore, several behavioral factors contribute to the perpetration of cyber dating violence. Middle and high school students start developing delinquent behaviors such as substance use, which makes the students rough in communicating and in the overall ways of performing their activities (Peskin et al., 2016). Since parents are absent during critical stages of the development of their children, the social media and the peer pressure become too much for the young ones to bear.

Bullying perpetration and aggression become part of the children's behaviors. High school students start issuing threatening messages to their partners, especially when the latter fails to reply or answer their phone calls. It is a rapidly growing behavior among the early adolescents (Peskin et al., 2016). Additionally, because of the content they consume on the social media, the teens start posting their nude photos with their partners on the different social media platforms. Some even do it for commercial purposes.

Modern governments need to protect the children from the growing cyber dating abuse. They can do this by compelling website owners to remove contents that encourage cybercrimes such as cyber-bullying and child abuse. Moreover, they can ban explicit advertisements that are harmful to children under eighteen years.

On the other hand, parents can regulate the time their children spend online right from the moment they learn how to use electronic devices. By setting limits, it can prevent children from becoming too attached to their phones later in life (Thompson, 2018). More importantly, the parents should be vigilant of behavior changes in their children, which might signal that their children are experiencing cyber bullying. These are behaviors such as withdrawal from social gatherings and increased temperament (Thompson, 2018). It could also signify that the child is using drugs. Therefore, the parent is the most important person in protecting children from cyber dating abuse.

References

Peskin, M., Markham, C., Shegog, R., Temple, J., Baumler, E., & Addy, R. et al. (2016). Prevalence and Correlates of the Perpetration of Cyber Dating Abuse among Early Adolescents. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 46(2), 358-375. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-016-0568-1

Thompson, J. (2018). 10 Tips to Protect Your Child from Cyber Bullying. Fosi.org. Retrieved 2 March 2020, from https://www.fosi.org/good-digital-parenting/10-tips-protect-your-child-cyber-bullying/.