“Each public school shall adopt a curriculum for
Internet safety instruction of students in grades kindergarten
through 12. The curriculum must be age appropriate and provide
for a minimum of 2.5 hours of instruction on each of the following
•Safe and responsible navigation and communication on social
networking websites, chat rooms, electronic mail, bulletin boards,
instant messenger, and other means of communication on the
•Recognizing and reporting solicitations by sexual predators online.
•Dangers of transmitting personal information on the Internet.
•Recognizing and avoiding unsolicited or deceptive communications
•Recognizing and reporting cyber-bullying.”
Illinois Internet Safety Education Act
How can schools help students learn
and apply the skills and ethics
necessary to use the Internet
responsibly and safely, given that
students' home use of the Internet is
often unﬁltered and unsupervised?
Online Sexual Victimization and Adolescent Risk-Taking Basic Facts
CyberSmart! has adopted an integrated approach to impacting behavioral change based on
current research findings on online sexual victimization, adolescent decision-making and risk-
taking behavior and best practices in the fields of cyber security and character education. A
listing of references used to compile this fact sheet can be found on the document titled
CyberSmart! Position on Cyber Safety and Security.
Ninety-nine percent of Internet sex crime victims are ages 13 to 17. Younger children are
typically more supervised and developmentally less interested in relationships online. Teens
have a natural desire for intense romantic relationships and are exploring their sexual selves.
Publicity about Internet-initiated sex crimes exaggerates fears. Several sex crime and abuse
indicators have shown marked declines during the same period that Internet use has been
Posting private identity information online, social networking, blogging, and writing online
journals do not result in increased victimization by online molesters.
It’s talking online to strangers about sex that increases the likelihood of meeting a sexual
predator online. This in combination with providing personal identity information (including
suggestive photos) dramatically increases the likelihood of receiving aggressive sexual
solicitations involving actual or attempted off line contact.
The majority of teens do not talk online to people they do not know face –to face about sex.
In almost all cases of sexual victimization, teens know they are talking to adults online.
Offenders rarely deceive victims about their sexual intent. The deception and trickery is that
the predator slowly gains the victim’s trust over a period of time in online conversations that
include sexual talk and innuendo wrapped in compliments.
Violence is rare in Internet-initiated sex crimes. The overwhelming majority of victims go
willingly on multiple occasions with the clear intention of engaging in sex. Many victims run
away with the predator. In retrospect, victims explain were in love with the predator.
Willing consensual sexual relationships between an adult and an underage adolescent are
illegal under statutory rape sex laws.
Adolescent risk-taking is not a cognitive issue but a social and emotional one (Reyna & Rivers,
The conventional thinking is that young people take risks because think they're invulnerable.
That's not the case. They actually carefully weigh about the risks and benefits of doing
something. But then they decide the benefits--like peer acceptance--outweigh the risks.