Nonetheless, the positive potential of empowered interaction can be lost when constructive behaviors are replaced with offensive and harmful acts. In emails and chatrooms where respondents to our study described spending the majority of their online time, adolescent girls report insulting each other, exchanging sexual quips, attacking the opinions of others, and engaging in generally outrageous behavior. They sometimes don't care if the person that they flirt with is an adult or a young person.

They often view it as pretend, and they play the game of make-believe by stating that they are older, more popular, smarter, tougher, and/or more experienced than in the real world. Girls may pretend to be boys, and boys may pretend to be girls. After all, "the computer can't see you blush" when you enter this fantasyland where the innocent can be sexy, the obedient can be naughty, and even the meek can swear with the best of them (Berson, 2000a). Although anecdotal data and narrative accounts on this activity are assisting in the creation of preventative messages and interventions, we need to further refine and evolve our understanding of the effect of these online experiences, including incidents described by our respondents as "Cyberrape," "Cybersex," and cyberstalking.

This research focuses on the prevalence of behaviors which contribute to risk for children and youth online and examines the potential impact of current and emerging strategies for promoting safe web-based experiences. The online behaviors of these young people can influence their emotional well-being and safety. The greatest potential danger is when online exchanges lead to offline encounters. Another very serious danger results from the sharing of too much personal information online, where the teenager can become the victim of cyberstalking and torment. The anonymity of cyberspace makes it difficult to track the emerging violent activity online, yet it is critical to develop new systems of protection for children who are potentially vulnerable to be preyed on. Parents and teachers are an essential line of defense in providing education and supervision so that cyberspace remains a secure environment for children and youth.


CONCLUSIONS

It is common for the technology skills of youth to surpass their critical thinking and judgment skills. While laws and attitudes struggle to keep pace with the activity online, educators, mental health professionals, and parents have the opportunity to systematically investigate and attend to the social and emotional skills of young people in cyberspace, including issues of accountability, responsibility, tolerance, and respect. The negative effects of Internet use are not inevitable, but the potential disengagement of young people from positive social interactions must be addressed if we hope to counter the allure of online personas. We are only beginning to recognize that online behaviors may have positive and negative effects on young people's socio-emotional development and functioning, and this reality requires professionals to be attentive and responsive to behaviors in cyberspace as well as in the classroom, home, and local community.

Part of the process of safeguarding children's experience online is the active instruction to educate children to navigate safely in cyberspace. Some will abdicate their responsibility for action to technological solutions which filter, monitor, and guide our youth through the complex world of cyberspace. However, a human touch is needed to counter the dark side of the Internet where sexual and racial harassment, obscenity, hate, and violence converge with caring and respect (Willard, 2000). This involves more than disseminating practical lists of online safety tips and requires a comprehensive educational program, which is part of a dynamic and interactive experience involving teachers, parents and youth in the development and training process. Initiatives which mediate online experiences that are disadvantageous to a child's physical, cognitive, and socio-emotional functioning should be developed in conjunction with early preparatory experiences which engage youth in assessing risky situations, developing appropriate coping techniques, and practicing responses to problematic situations. Young people can be adequately prepared for potential risks on the Internet by learning how to identify ambiguous situations, take appropriate steps to minimize their vulnerability and augment their abilities to make informed decisions for safe navigation online. Avoidance techniques, de-escalation skills, netiquette/ethics training, and protection strategies are among the critical safety mechanisms which should be infused into instruction.

Researchers need to reflect upon technology to determine what skills it can foster while concomitantly critiquing the social and economic influences it has on children, youth and society (Berson, 2000b). William Gibson, who coined the term cyberspace in 1984, referred to it as a consensual hallucination. As young people increase their time online, this digital hallucination may entice young people into virtual relationships where violent fantasies and sexual encounters contribute to a destructive youth culture online, but can awareness of ethical responsibilities and safety guidelines protect their socio-emotional functioning? Moreover, how will this virtual world affect our understanding of childhood violence, exploitation and its concomitant trauma? Interactions between cyberoffenders and their victims may create a new dynamic which needs consideration in order to assess the emotional response of the child after witnessing or participating in cyber misconduct.

Successful solutions for safety will be based on a fluid knowledge base. In the new age of communication technologies, flexibility and adaptation will be the skills necessary to guide research in auspiciously negotiating advancements and fostering meaningful investigations which do not trivialize the socio-emotional functioning of our youth, the sanctity of human interaction, or the potential for collaboration in the context of global connectivity.

Acknowledgements

The ongoing investigation of children's activity in cyberspace, including mental health implications and protective interventions, was partially funded by the University of South Florida Collaborative for Children, Families, and Communities, the Juvenile Welfare Board of Pinellas County, and the University of Virginia's Curry Center for Technology and Teacher Education IMPACT II Project. The authors would like to thank Parry Aftab, Internet law specialist, author, and Executive Director of CyberAngels for her expertise on this landmark research initiative. We also extend our appreciation to Jeff Iannone, doctoral student in social studies education at the University of South Florida, and the staff of Seventeen Magazine Online for their assistance on this project.