Becca Schmill Foundation

Advocating for Our Youth

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Online Harms

Adolescent mobile phone use presents online harms

Children today are navigating a social world that is far more complicated than it was in past generations. What has not changed though is a child’s instincts. Children are still innately impulsive and seek immediate gratification. Social media allows them to act on their worst instincts in ways that are devastatingly harmful.

What Everyone Needs To Know

  • Social Media and Youth Men­tal Health advi­so­ry – This 2023 advisory from the U.S. Surgeon General out­lines sci­en­tif­ic evi­dence on social media’s impact on youth men­tal health and has recommendations for pol­i­cy­mak­ers, tech­ com­pa­nies and par­ents, to improve online safe­ty.
  • Cyberbullying – is bullying that includes sending, posting, or sharing negative, harmful, false, or mean content about someone else. Cyberbullying is public, permanent, and extremely harmful to victims. 
  • Sextortion – is the threat to expose sexual images to force the victim to do something – e.g. financial payment or a sexual act. Never share compromising images or videos with anyone online (for example sexting) no matter how well you think you know them.
  • Online Challenges – online dares that may spread quickly over the internet. Peer pressure or a desire for online popularity can lead to trying dangerous dares like the “Choking Challenge” which can be fatal. 
  • “Drug traffickers have turned smartphones into a one-stop shop to market, sell, buy, and deliver deadly, fake prescription pills and other dangerous drugs. In just three steps, deadly drugs can be purchased and delivered to your home just like any other good or service.” – DEA
  • Cyber Civil Rights Initiative: Information and resources for victims of nonconsensual pornography (NCP), revenge porn, and other forms of online abuse. Also includes a roster of attorneys who may be able to offer low pro-bono legal assistance. Crisis Helpline 844-878-2274

The above list is a small sample of online harms that children experience every day.

What BSF Is Doing

RESEARCH
BSF is collaborating with researchers at Boston Children’s Hospital looking at viable legislation to protect children from online harms, and documenting the excessive profits Big Tech is making off of children.
Learn More
COMMUNITY EVENTS
BSF hosts and sponsors events with experts on topics related to online harms and youth mental health. BSF often collaborates with organizations from Needham, MA and surrounding areas with similar missions.
ADVOCACY
BSF advocates at the State and Federal levels for legislation that protects children from cyber harms. BSF advocates for Phone free school days, the passage of the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) and COPPA 2.O and more.

What Parents Can Do

  • Talk with your kids about the online risks. Let them know they can always come to you if they are concerned about something happening online.
  • Ask them to think about how they use social media and what could go wrong.
  • Acknowledge peer pressure. Help them understand what might be motivating them to try something risky.
  • Model responsible online habits. 

Small Sample of Harms

Mental Health and Attention

  • After nearly two decades in decline, high depressive symptoms for 13-18-year-old girls rose by 65% between 2010 & 2017.
  • A longitudinal study of several thousand adolescents indicated that their level of social media usage was a significant predictor of their depression.
  • 66% is the increase in the risk of suicide-related outcomes among teen girls who spend more than 5 hours a day (vs. 1 hour a day) on social media.
  • The amount of time spent using social media is significantly correlated with later levels of alcohol use for teens. This is not the case for time spent on other forms of electronic media (including TV or video games). 
  • The level of social media use on a given day is linked to a significant correlated increase in memory failure the next day.
  • The mere presence of your smartphone, even when turned off and face down, drains your attention.
  • Media multi-tasking is significantly linked to later levels of attention difficulties.
  • Children under the age of 14 spend nearly twice as long with tech devices (3 hrs and 18 min. a day) as they do in conversation with their families (1 hr and 43 min. a day).

Source: Center of Humane Technology Data Sheet on Minors and Social Media

Cyberbullying

Cyberbullying is bullying that takes place over digital devices like cell phones, computers, and tablets (sending, posting, or sharing negative, harmful, false, or mean content about someone else.) Cyberbullying is particularly damaging because it is often done on a platform where hundreds, or more, can witness it. This drastically compounds the humiliation the victim feels.

  • In 2023, 55% of students reported lifetime cyberbullying, with 27% experiencing it in the past 30 days.
  • The most commonly reported forms of cyberbullying include mean or hurtful comments posted online, exclusion from group chats, spreading rumors online, and someone embarrassing or humiliating them. online.
  • Adolescent girls are more likely to have experienced cyberbullying in their lifetimes compared to boys (59.2% vs. 49.5%). 
  • Black or Hispanic teens are more likely than White teens to say cyberbullying is a major problem for people their age.
  • Roughly three-quarters of teens or more think elected officials and social media sites aren’t adequately addressing online abuse.
  • Half of teens think banning users who bully or criminal charges against them would help a lot in reducing the cyberbullying teens may face on social media.

Source: https://cyberbullying.org/2023-cyberbullying-data

Resources

Sextortion and the Normalizing of Sexting