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Internet Safety Gone Wild?

Sacrificing the Educational and Psychosocial Benefits of Online Social Environments

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Many Internet safety and parenting experts suggest that parents prohibit their teens from social networking sites and other online spaces where predators may lurk. But we may do adolescents a disservice when we curtail their participation in these spaces, because the educational and psychosocial benefits of this type of communication can far outweigh the potential dangers. These benefits include developing cognitive skills that are consistent with those required in educational settings and perspective-taking skills that are necessary for citizenship in an increasingly multiracial society. Alternative strategies for keeping adolescents safe online should build on the increasing technological awareness and sophistication of teens themselves.

Key Words: Internet safety • adolescent development • identity • education • social networking • computers

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Journal of Adolescent Research, Vol. 22, No. 6, 575-584 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/0743558407303979


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