Youth Internet Safety Education: Aligning Programs With the Evidence Base

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Education Technology
• Cyberpsychology

Background:

• Youth internet safety education programs require critical examination.
• Research on internet dangers and prevention education efficacy is evolving.
• Understanding the dynamics of online harms is crucial for effective education.

Purpose of the Study:

• To critically assess the messages within youth internet safety education programs.
• To compare program messages with research findings on internet dangers and prevention efficacy.
• To identify potential mismatches and suggest improvements for digital safety education.

Main Methods:

• Conducted a Google search for "internet safety education" and "digital citizenship" to identify 12 programs.
• Performed a Google Scholar search for review articles on six key online harms: cyberbullying, sexual exploitation, sexting, fraud/hacking, suicide promotion, and internet overuse.
• Analyzed 130 review articles (total) covering various online risks to youth.

Main Results:

• Identified significant mismatches between the dynamics of internet harms and the messages in current educational programs, especially concerning sexual exploitation and sexting.
• Found substantial advantages in integrating internet safety education into established, evidence-based programs that address related offline harms (e.g., bullying, abuse prevention).
• Highlighted four key advantages for integration: overlap in harms, prevalence of offline harms, shared risk factors, and stronger evidence base for offline programs.

Conclusions:

• Current youth internet safety education messages may not fully align with the realities of online risks.
• Integrating digital safety into programs addressing offline harms offers a more effective, evidence-based approach.
• Future internet safety education should leverage existing frameworks and research on offline risks for greater impact.