C Y B E R WO R L D
...NOT ALL ABUSE IS PHYSICAL!
The potential for abuse through technology goes beyond mere monitoring to harassment, threats and intimidation. One in four teens
in a relationship has experienced harassment, name calling, or put downs from a current or former dating partner through cell phone
or text messaging and nearly one in five has been harassed or put down through a social networking site.
FACTS
Picard, P (2007). Tech Abuse in Teen Relationships Study. Liz Claiborne Inc. • www.loveisnotabuse.com/serveyresults_2007mstr.htm
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32% of online teens say they have been targets of a range of annoying or potentially menacing online activities. 15% of teens
overall say someone has forwarded or posted a private message they’ve written, 13% say someone has spread a rumor about
them online, 13% say someone has sent them a threatening or aggressive message, and 6% say someone has posted
embarrassing pictures of them online.
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88% of social media-using teens say they have seen someone be mean or cruel to another person on a social network site.
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36% of teens who have witnessed others being cruel on social networks have looked to someone for advice about what to do.
American Academy of Pediatrics 2012
TIPS IN CYBER SAFETY
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Consider changing your cell phone number. If you are concerned that changing your number could escalate the abuse, consider
leaving phone on and active. This way, all activity can be tracked and recorded by law enforcement. You can also consider call
blocking if you decide not to disconnect your phone. Discuss with friends a strategy to prevent abusive partner from getting the
new number.
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Make your profile private. Be aware of how much you reveal about your contact information, class and work schedules,
extracurricular activities, social events and daily routines.
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Google yourself. Periodically check to see what information pops up about you. If you come across information that contains
personal information, consider contacting website host for removal of the information.
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Preserve cell phone / texts/ and electronic evidence. Recording threats, saving texts and printing website communication can
be an essential piece of evidence in a teen dating violence case.
Although these tools can be misused by the abusive partner, they are not the problem. The power and control of the abusive partner
is the real problem. Restricting and avoiding technology is not the answer. How to use it safely and productively is.
SHARE WITH CARE
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Your online actions can have real-world consequences. The pictures you post and the words you write can affect the people in
your life. Think before you post and share.
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What you post could have a bigger “audience” than you think. Even if you use privacy settings, it’s important to completely
control who sees your social networking profile, pictures, videos or texts. Before you click “send,” think about how you will feel if
your family, teachers, coaches or neighbors find it.
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Once you post information online, you can’t take it back. You may think that you’ve deleted information from a site – or that
you will delete it later. Know that older versions may exist on other people’s computers. That means your posts could live
somewhere permanently.
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Get someone’s okay before you share photos or videos they’re in. Online photo albums are great for storing and sharing
pictures of special events, and camera phones make it easy to capture every moment. Stop and think about your own privacy –
and other people’s – before you share photos and videos online. It can be embarrassing, unfair and even unsafe to send or post
photos and videos without getting permission from the people in them.
Love is trusting...It isn’t keeping tabs with obsessive calls and texting!
LAKE COUNTY STATE’S ATTORNEY’S OFFICE • 2012
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community outreach - Teen Dating Violence: Teen Resources
TEEN
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