Cell Phones Can Aid Teen Dating Abuse

There was some disturbing news recently from Liz Claiborne, of all sources. The clothing company commissioned a survey by Teen Research Unlimited about teens and dating and found that technology often plays a negative role in young relationships. A majority of teens, 71 percent, say that boyfriends and girlfriends spreading rumors about them on cell phones and social-networking sites is a serious problem.

The findings are pretty striking: one in four teens in a relationship said they communicated with their partner via cell phone calls or texting hourly between midnight and 5 a.m. That's every hour through the night. And one in three say they receive text messages either 10, 20, or 30 times an hour by a girlfriend or boyfriends asking where they are, what they're doing, and who they're with.

And guess what? Parents have no clue this is happening. More than two third of parents whose teens say they are checked up on by dating partners 30 times a day are unaware it was happening, as did 82 percent of parents whose teens were messaged 30 times per hour.

Read the entire survey findings here (It's a PDF file). Once you catch your breath, take heart in knowing there are some new places for parents to turn for information, advice, and help.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has a tipline for reporting cyber-abuse incidents, but it has retooled its web site to provide parents more information and help before they or their kids need to report abuse. It's called NetSmartz411. Parents can type in questions in a search feature and get answers from trained experts.

As Larry Magid of BlogSafety writes for CBSOnline, NetSmartz411 is not the place to report a suspected crime, nor is it to be used in an emergency. If your child is in immediate danger, call 911. If you have information about an Internet-related crime against a child—including child pornography—report that to NCMEC's Cybertpline at www.cybertipline.com or by calling 800-843-5687.

Magid and Anne Collier also sit on the board of the new Family Online Safety Institute, a reincarnation of the Internet Content Rating Association. Consider it a think tank bringing together the best minds who have been working on Internet safety for years to tackle some of the new issues technology is throwing into the volatile mix of raising teens.

The takeaway is that there are more places to turn for information and guidance than ever before. Check them out.