This is the first book to thoroughly examine how early and easy access to the Internet and digital technologies impacts children and adolescents. Experts in the field examine the research that shows the social, cognitive, developmental, and academic problems that can result when children spend excessive time in front of screens. As a whole. the book provides an invaluable resource for those who need to assess, treat, and prevent Internet addiction in children and adolescents. Internet Addiction in Children and Adolescents: Provides tools that help predict a child’s level of risk for media-related problems. Examines how to diagnose and differentiate Internet addiction from other psychiatric conditions. Explores evidenced-based treatment approaches and how to distinguish pathology from normal development. Shows how to create inpatient treatment programs and therapies to address media addiction. Highlights the psychological, social, and family conditions for those most at risk. Evaluates the effects of the excessive use of electronic games and the Internet on brain development. Explores the physical risks that result from excessive media use and strategies for combating the problem. Examines school-based initiatives that employ policies and procedures designed to increase awareness of excessive media use and help educators identify students who misuse technology, and strategies of intervention and communication with parents. Identifies signs of problem Internet behavior such as aggressive behavior, lying about screen use, and a preference for screen time over social interactions. Outlines the risk factors for developing internet addiction. Provides strategies for treatment and prevention in family, school, and community settings. Practitioners and researchers in psychology, social work, school counseling, child and family therapy, and nursing will appreciate this book's thorough review if internet addiction among children and adolescents. The book also serves as an engaging supplement in courses on media psychology, addiction counseling, abnormal psychology, school counseling, social issues, and more.

Adolescents obviously do not always act in ways that serve their own best interests, even as defined by them. Sometimes their perception of their own risks, even of survival to adulthood, is larger than the reality; in other cases, they underestimate the risks of particular actions or behaviors. It is possible, indeed likely, that some adolescents engage in risky behaviors because of a perception of invulnerabilityâ€"the current conventional wisdom of adults' views of adolescent behavior. Others, however, take risks because they feel vulnerable to a point approaching hopelessness. In either case, these perceptions can prompt adolescents to make poor decisions that can put them at risk and leave them vulnerable to physical or psychological harm that may have a negative impact on their long-term health and viability. A small planning group was formed to develop a workshop on reconceptualizing adolescent risk and vulnerability. With funding from Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Workshop on Adolescent Risk and Vulnerability: Setting Priorities took place on March 13, 2001, in Washington, DC. The workshop's goal was to put into perspective the total burden of vulnerability that adolescents face, taking advantage of the growing societal concern for adolescents, the need to set priorities for meeting adolescents' needs, and the opportunity to apply decision-making perspectives to this critical area. This report summarizes the workshop.

Adolescence is a time when youth make decisions, both good and bad, that have consequences for the rest of their lives. Some of these decisions put them at risk of lifelong health problems, injury, or death. The Institute of Medicine held three public workshops between 2008 and 2009 to provide a venue for researchers, health care providers, and community leaders to discuss strategies to improve adolescent health.

Cyber-risks are moving targets and societal responses to combat cyber-victimization are often met by the distrust of young people. Drawing on original research, this book explores how young people define, perceive, and experience cyber-risks, how they respond to both the messages they are receiving from society regarding their safety online, and the various strategies and practices employed by society in regulating their online access and activities. This book complements existing quantitative examinations of cyberbullying assessing its extent and frequency, but also aims to critique and extend knowledge of how cyber-risks such as cyberbullying are perceived and responded to. Following a discussion of their methodology and their experiences of conducting research with teens, the authors discuss the social network services that teens are using and what they find appealing about them, and address teens’ experiences with and views towards parental and school-based surveillance. The authors then turn directly to areas of concern expressed by their participants, such as relational aggression, cyberhacking, privacy, and privacy management, as well as sexting. The authors conclude by making recommendations for policy makers, educators and teens – not only by drawing from their own theoretical and sociological interpretations of their findings, but also from the responses and recommendations given by their participants about going online and tackling cyber-risk. One of the first texts to explore how young people respond to attempts to regulate online activity, this book will be key reading for those involved in research and study surrounding youth crime, cybercrime, youth culture, media and crime, and victimology – and will inform those interested in addressing youth safety online how to best approach what is often perceived as a sensitive and volatile social problem.

Child and Adolescent Online Risk Exposure: An Ecological Perspective focuses on online risks and outcomes for children and adolescents using an ecological perspective (i.e., the intersection of individuals in relevant contexts) for a better understanding of risks associated with the youth online experience. The book examines the specific consequences of online risks for youth and demonstrates how to develop effective and sensitive interventions and policies. Sections discuss why online risks are important, individual and contextual factors, different types of risk, online risks among special populations, such as LGBT youth, physically or intellectually disabled youth, and ethnic and religious minorities, and intervention efforts. - Examines online risks such as problematic internet use, contact risk behaviors, online exploitation, online hate, cyberbullying, and cyberstalking - Explores the concept of digital citizenship - Includes theoretical considerations and the prevalence of online risks - Covers policy and intervention recommendations for reducing online risks

This book engages with contemporary, and often polarizing, debates surrounding the risks of adolescent use of digital media and internet technologies. By drawing on multiple research studies, the text synthesizes current understandings of the impacts of social network use, online gaming, pornography, and phenomena, including cyberbullying, cyberstalking, and internet addiction, to develop recommendations for the effective identification of at-risk youth, as well as strategies for informed communication about online risks and opportunities. It shows how media discussion of risks to children and teenagers from new technology is highly emotive and often exaggerated, rooted in the “moral panic” surrounding new cultural practices that young people engage in, but which adults do not understand. Online risks are thus conceptualized as centering on three areas, specific to adolescence, which have undergone radical changes due to new internet technology. These include young people’s identity, the types of content that are accessed, and social relationships. The author shows how these matters stem from the potential of new technology to establish new interpersonal connections, emphasizing how it brings opportunities, as much as risks. As such, he provides a uniquely balanced discussion of potential dangers, while also emphasizing the opportunities for social, academic, and personal growth which new technologies afford young people. It will be indispensable for researchers and clinicians interested in assessing levels of online risk, as well as scholars and educators with interests in cyberpsychology, social psychology, cyber culture, social aspects of computing and media, and adolescent development.

"This edited volume addresses the pressing need to establish a unified theoretical framework for adolescent online social communication research, specifically, identify the role and function of the Internet in adolescent social communication behavior, dynamic relationships among such things as adolescent social-psychological needs, personality, and social norms in online communication, and theories with practices in adolescent online social communication"--T.p. verso.

Violence Against Children adopts in its title the exhortation of Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen, "Making Human Rights Real," which also represents the leitmotif of the book. It examines the prevalence of violence against children in Africa, the Asia Pacific Region, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, and in the United States, and explores major ways of its prevention. Making human rights real engenders the challenge of helping all children to be free from violence and to lead a life replete with genuine nurture and the elimination of all violence. Only in this manner will the goal of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development —target 16.2—be achieved and the child as a rights-bearing individual realized in her/his fullness. The specially commissioned chapters that make up the volume have been written by renowned scholars, researchers and advocates. They coalesce to provide an overview of the challenges facing children exposed to violence worldwide, and they advance discussions of the measures which are available and necessary for the prevention of violence against children. The book is intended for policy-makers, researchers and students of the social sciences and human rights who are interested in ending all the widespread maltreatment of children in our societies and our time.

This Research Topic is part of the Insights in Psychology series. We are now entering the third decade of the 21st Century, and, especially in the last years, the achievements made by scientists have been exceptional, leading to major advancements in the fast-growing field of Psychology. Frontiers has organized a series of Research Topics to highlight the latest advancements in science in order to be at the forefront of science in different fields of research. This editorial initiative of particular relevance, led by Douglas Kauffman, Specialty Chief Editor of the section Educational Psychology, is focused on new insights, novel developments, current challenges, latest discoveries, recent advances and future perspectives in this field. Also, high-quality original research manuscripts on novel concepts, problems and approaches are welcomed.