Teenagers Who Were Blogging Showed Little Risky Behavior

As parents, every day we are being told that our children are in danger online, not only from strangers, but from their own behaviors!

There is some interesting data in a new study found in the Child & Adolescent Social Work Journal, Volume 27, April 2010 from Ohio State that was conducted by Dawn Anderson Butcher, Associate Professor of Social Work. Even though this study had a smaller sample of teens,they were all blogging on Zanga (a popular site before Facebook which is like micro blogging) used their blogs to nurture relationships with peers and not participate in risky behavior (like posting sexy pictures).

The teenagers in the study used their blogs to build a sense of community. Most of the blogs were creative, used poetry, lyrics and had a real sense of imagination to them. The authors of this study were amazed to see that these teenagers talked about homework, spending time with family, and even participating in school activities.

What becomes so interesting about this study is the implication that our teenagers are using the Internet to talk to their friends when they are home from school, and the authors of this study noted that 65% of the teens in this study talked about being bored, which is still better than acting out in risky behavior.

If so many teenagers are using the Internet to talk to their friends, and they feel safe doing so, then we need to think about some alternative ways to create safe environments for them to use their creativity, imagination and talent to continue to harness their energy to communicate with each other. Facebook is a start, but not enough. We may also think about ways that mentors, counselors, teachers, and other leaders in the community can help parents monitor and support our teenagers. The Internet is not going anywhere, and neither are our teenagers need for friends.....