Teens Unaware Of Online Legal Dangers
March 20th, 2011 | by Jen |Victorian teenagers are ignorant of the legal pitfalls of using social media - such as posting explicit photographs of themselves or others online - and only 1 per cent would ask an adult for advice about dangers online, a study has found.
A Monash University-led study of more than 1000 year 7 to 10 students at 17 Victorian schools found social media was almost universal: 95 per cent of students used at least one social networking site and six in 10 updated their profile at least once a day. And 72 per cent had received unpleasant or unwanted contact from strangers via their online profiles.
But the study, Teenagers, Legal Risks and Social Networking Sites, found students were often blase about online dangers, with almost 30 per cent believing sites such as Facebook were risk-free.
Parents and teachers also had little awareness of the ”potentially serious consequences” young people faced, such as stalking, identity theft and harassment.
Of concern was the prevalence of teenagers posting explicit photos of themselves or others online, the study found, citing the case of the 17-year-old girl who released nude photos of two St Kilda footballers on Facebook.
Doing so could breach laws of privacy, confidentiality, defamation and copyright.
The focus on cyber bullying had overshadowed the need to educate young people against breaking laws about privacy, copyright, defamation and distribution of offensive material, the study found.
Students were ”really not aware of what the legal risks are”, said co-author Melissa de Zwart, associate professor of law at the University of Adelaide.
”Kids are taught at primary school that you don’t walk into the toilet when someone is in there. Now nobody actually teaches them at any point in the classroom that posting really unpleasant photos of a friend is not appropriate; those social norms have to be learnt as well.”
Although nearly half the students were aware of some risk in using social networking sites, 28 per cent considered such sites safe and one in five felt any risk was irrelevant because social networking was ”what everyone does”.
Although sites offered social and educational benefits, young people failed to understand the ‘’significant legal implications” of their actions online. Many admitted posting third-party content: 26 per cent said they shared music online and 38 per cent shared videos, potentially breaking copyright laws.
Less than 14 per cent were concerned about security risks such as identity theft.
Michael Henderson, a senior lecturer in education at Monash University, said students also needed to learn about the risks to reputations created by posting personal material online.
The study, which will be released tomorrow, calls for ”cyber-safety” lessons to be incorporated in school curriculums.