How School Counselors Can Help Prevent Online Victimization.

The Internet is widely used among youth in the United States for academic purposes, to communicate with friends, and as a source of entertainment (Gross, 2004; Lenhart & Madden, 2007). Many youth and parents view the Internet as a positive tool that promotes and ensures academic success (Turow, 2000); however, there are negative aspects and risks associated with Internet use among children and adolescents. One of the major risks touted by the media is Internet victimization in which youth are solicited and groomed by Internet predators to participate in sexual and other harmful acts. Some research findings indicate that certain youth are more at risk for being victims of Internet predators than are others (Mitchell, Finkelhor, & Wolak, 2001). School counselors are in a unique position to assist in efforts to reduce and prevent online victimizations because of their continual interaction with students, parents, and other school faculty (Lambie & Rokutani, 2002; Watkins, Ellickson, Vaiana, & Hiromoto, 2006). They are also the most common provider of mental health services to students in school settings (Foster et al., 2005). However, the majority of school personnel, including counselors, report feeling unprepared to address matters related to Internet safety and online victimization (Finn & Kerman, 2004; Wells, Mitchell, Finkelhor, & Becker-Blease, 2006). Furthermore, there is limited research available in general on counseling youth and their families with Internet safety issues (see Burnham, 2009; Rosen, 2007; Wolak, Finkelhor, Mitchell, & Ybarra, 2008). The purpose of this article is to provide school counselors with an overview of youth Internet use behaviors, describe the emerging risk factors associated with online victimizations, and provide recommendations to promote Internet safety among families and assist students who may be at risk for victimization. * Youth Internet Use Behavior Internet use is common among youth in the United States. In a recent survey of adolescents living in the United States (N = 935) who were between 12 and 17 years old, approximately 93% of the sample reported using the Internet (Lenhart & Madden, 2007). The youth in this sample were more likely to use the Internet if their parents had a college education and a higher income (98%) in comparison to participants whose parents were less educated and had a lower income (82%). Of those who reported using the Internet, 89% used the Internet at least once a week and 61% used the Internet daily (Lenhart & Madden, 2007). Prior findings (Gross, 2004) indicate that adolescents who use the Internet enjoy communicating with their friends online because this medium provides a sense of privacy, which in turn promotes greater self-disclosure than when conversing face-to-face. However, the Internet is a public entity, which enables complete strangers to contact anyone via e-mail, spam e-mail messages, and chat rooms and through advertising (Jordan, 2002; Turow, 2001). Lenhart and Madden (2007) found that approximately 30% of their sample reported being contacted or receiving messages from a complete stranger while online. A small percentage of youth (21%) were curious about these unsolicited messages and reported that they replied to the sender for more information. Frequently, online relationships are formed from these types of interactions. Findings from the United Kingdom Children Go Online study, which surveyed children (N = 1,511) ages 9 to 19 years and their parents (N = 906), indicated that 30% of participants had met a person online, 46% of participants had given personal information to someone they met online, and 8% had face-to-face meetings with someone they met online (Livingstone & Bober, 2005). Similarly, another study (Wolak, Mitchell, & Finkelhor, 2003) assessing Internet activity among 1,501 youth in the United States between 10 to 17 years old determined that 14% of online participants had formed close relationships with individuals whom they met online. …