Navigating Sexuality and Boundaries – Educating Youth on Healthy Relationships and Online Safety

Navigating Sexuality and Boundaries – Educating Youth on Healthy Relationships and Online Safety

One ideal strategy for addressing the complexities of sexuality and acting sexually is through a combination of approaches comprising education, effective communication, particularly open communication, and cultivating an environment healthy enough for children in both their online and offline spaces. In regards to education, early education using age-appropriate discussions is key, starting with topics like consent, personal boundaries, body autonomy, and how they have the right to not only reject unwanted physical contact but also to report it. Subsequently, education should also comprise topics like the differences between sexuality and sexual contact, which will help children tell the two apart. In addition, media literacy should also be part of the learning because, from a young age, today’s generation is exposed to a lot of media content, which unfortunately contains a lot of discrepancies between sexual behavior and sexuality. Similarly, parents should put effort into monitoring and curating whatever content their children consume from a young age so that when they have the freedom to use their own devices, they can recognize misleading or harmful content.

Further, parents should also be educated on the matters of sexuality and sexual actions so that they can be well-equipped to handle any topics about them in a fruitful way (Crosson-Tower, 2019). Moreover, parents should also be taught how they themselves can model consensual and respectful behavior. The other approach is effective and open communication, which would mainly be based on creating environments whereby children feel safe to open up about their thoughts, experiences, and feelings without fear of how they will be perceived or even be punished for it. There are three main ways that a child is at risk of abuse over the internet. One is cyberbullying, which may lead victims to commit suicide. Secondly, children are at the risk of falling victim to predators and being groomed, which then results in the child getting manipulated, abused, and exploited, for example, getting trafficked or sexually abused. Thirdly, unmonitored internet access can lead children down rabbit holes where they encounter all kinds of inappropriate content, which could significantly affect their developmental growth (McDool et al., 2020).  Notably, the internet is one of the most suitable tools for perpetrators because, first, it provides anonymity since making fake profiles is allowed, and second, it provides extensive access and reach to them from the comfort of their homes.

References

Crosson-Tower, C. (2019). Understanding Child Abuse and Neglect. United Kingdom: Pearson.

McDool, E., Powell, P., Roberts, J., & Taylor, K. (2020). The Internet and children’s Psychological wellbeing. Journal of Health Economics, 69, 102274.

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Society not only teaches female children that sexuality is useful but plants the seeds for them to feel they are to blame for whatever comes of acting sexually. For example: “She was wearing a short skirt so she must have provoked it.” Or “Go give Uncle John a kiss on the cheek and he will take you for ice cream.” How do we teach our youth the difference between sexuality and acting sexually even when it is portrayed differently by society? Then, discuss what ways children are at risk for abuse over the Internet. What makes the Internet an ideal tool for perpetrators?

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