Age-Specific Tips

The Growing Personality

At this age:

• Acceptance and belonging are extremely important as adolescents build their identity
• Adolescents become more concerned with their appearance, and a general self-consciousness increases
• Very sensitive and easily humiliated (extremely concerned about social judgment)
• Pseudo-maturity is demonstrated by trying to handle issues beyond their developmental capability
• Adolescents will seek deeper relationships and may use the Internet to confide in others
• Adolescents distance themselves from their parents and take emotional risks in an attempt to shape their own identity
• May experiment with drugs and/or alcohol
• May explore sexuality. It's natural for adolescents to be curious about the opposite (same) sex, which may lead to looking at photos and exploring sexual subjects
• Increased privacy is often demanded
• Behaviour often based on peer behaviour rather than on whether that behaviour is right or wrong
• Good behaviour is often maintained by having an adult present

Online Activities

• Uses instant messaging, email, weblogs, social networking sites, chatrooms, etc. to communicate with others
• Plays online games against opponents
• Uses webcams and digital cameras to send pictures
• Uses mobile phones (talking to friends, taking pictures, text messaging, mobile Internet browsing)
• Uses peer-to-peer programs to download music, videos, etc. (ie. Limewire, Bearshare, eDonkey)
• Uses search engines to explore new topics

Safety Strategies

What you can do:

• Reinforce the public nature of the Internet and let your adolescent know you will supervise online activity. Adolescents are more likely follow the rules when you let them know you will be watching out for them.
  
• Limit the amount of time spent online
  
• Use filtering software
  
• Monitor increased independence. Even though adolescents may appear as though they can "handle" certain situations, they actually require and unconsciously seek adult guidance and supervision
  
• Explain where it is appropriate for your adolescent to have privacy: confiding in close friends face-to-face, writing in a paper journal, in his/her bedroom, etc. Reinforce that there is no privacy on the Internet
  
• Know their passwords, screen names, and the friends they are communicating with online
  
• Monitor the use of webcams and mobile phones, as well as the posting and exchanging pictures/video online
  
• Explain that once a picture is sent online they lose control of what is done with it (it may never be completely removed from the Internet)
  
• Teach them that it is illegal for people to manufacture, possess or distribute naked or sexually explicit pictures of children under 18 years of age. Explain that they need to tell a trusted adult if they are presented with this situation
  
• Teach them that it is illegal for adults to offer them gifts or money in exchange for sexual activity
  
• Discuss dignity and self-respect and how it can be preserved or destroyed by messages sent online and offline
  
• Discuss the difference between healthy and unhealthy relationships
  
• Explain that they should never meet in person someone they first meet online without a parent or guardian
  
• Discuss online and offline high-risk behaviour and create "what if" scenarios together to help your adolescent recognize dangerous situations and practice responses
  
• Encourage open communication and be aware of your adolescent's sensitivity to social judgment. S/he may be hesitant to share personal experiences
  
• Monitor and verify any job offers made, and accompany the youth to interviews