The relationship between adolescents and their way of using technology is a topic of great interest. We live in an era of social changes due to the influence of technology.
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Technology makes access to the Internet universe massive, easy, and immediate. The incalculable and varied possibilities that the online world offers us turn this tool into a double-edged sword.
Where we can find solutions to very specific problems, entertainment of all kinds, information of all classes, potential businesses, instant communication, etc., we can also find misinformation, scams, opportunism, and criminal actions or behaviors. Given this latter scenario, it is essential to focus attention on the most vulnerable within any society: children and adolescents.
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Today, one of the ways minors can be victimized through the internet is Child Grooming. This modality constitutes a series of behaviors deliberately undertaken by an adult, through the internet, with the aim of gaining the trust or friendship of a minor, in such a way that an emotional connection is created with them, whose objective is to obtain sexual or pornographic material. The ultimate goal would be the introduction of the minor into child prostitution, the production of pornographic material, or the commission of sexual abuse.
It is a great risk for children and adolescents to fall into this “deception,” potentially leading to extremely delicate events, consequences, and aftermath. Therefore, it is important not only to be aware of the existence of the problem but also to inform ourselves on how to prevent it in order to intervene in time and safeguard the physical and mental health of the minor.
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The primary form of Child Grooming prevention must arise within the family unit, with dialogue and responsible monitoring of the child’s relationship with the internet: general websites, chat pages and software, and, fundamentally, everyday social networks.
Furthermore, it is equally or more important that this awareness is reinforced within the environment where the child will spend a large part of their days: the classroom. It is here that the minor will reinforce certain values, habits, and social behaviors.
Some forms of prevention and intervention that can be carried out in the classroom and constitute a strong tool to prevent students from becoming involved in child grooming cases are the following.
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Firstly, it is essential to offer students a reflective space and time on the issue, informing them and discussing the characteristics that arise and, above all, providing them with practical preventive advice and behaviors:
- Do not accept friend requests from strangers on social media.
- Ignore messages or chats from unknown sources or numbers, whether or not they contain sexual content.
- Ignore any message that proposes doing something you are unsure about, whether or not it’s from a stranger.
- Do not respond to threatening or hurtful messages. If this happens:
- Save threatening messages as proof of the facts or electronic evidence: screenshots, recordings, image captures, etc.
- If you know the person, ask them to remove it.
- Contact the website administrator to report it.
- Ask an adult for help: parents, guardians, etc.
- Do not open or download unknown files.
- Do not reveal personal information to anyone, such as age, phone number, name, family details, personal interests, etc.
- Avoid posting content, videos, photos, etc., on social media that you don’t want everyone to see.
- Do not send photos or videos, sexual or not, no matter how insistent the request.
- If the abuser is part of the victim’s educational environment, report it to the school officials so that the Action Plan can be implemented.
These recommendations on Child Grooming are general in nature, and the fact that a space for reflection on the matter is proposed within the classroom can be reinforced with previous family discussions on the topic, or by contextualizing and informing the student about something that has been ignored by their parents or family members.
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Particularly, work in the classroom and in the educational institution in general provides us with multiple and rich possibilities to address the problem of Child Grooming. A good strategy is the articulation between subjects and/or teachers. For example, it would be highly productive to dedicate computer class time to teach students how to manage the privacy of their social profiles: password selection, identification of fake profiles, how to modify and manage their privacy settings, etc.
Another Child Grooming prevention tactic often used in the classroom is the presentation of real cases, either explained by the teacher or commented on firsthand by a Child Grooming victim. This strategy is commonly used to emotionally involve the student so that they can develop empathy for the victim and not downplay the issue or believe they are exempt from danger.
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Author: Silvia Martín
Professional career focused on the educational world. 18 years of experience combining teaching with coordination and development of educational projects. My mission has been to advise and guide students in their training and in making decisions that affect their professional field. Bachelor’s degree in English Philology. Expert in Educational Coaching and English Didactics in Secondary Education. Specialist in English for the Healthcare sector and in English for Presentations and Research Studies. Specialist in Education in Values and Emotional Intelligence in Adolescents. Master’s in E-Learning and Social Networks. Specialist in new challenges in Educational Technology. PhD candidate in English Literature, specializing in Gothic-Romantic Literature
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