Teen Counselor on Cyberbullying | Technology as a Weapon of Teen Abuse

By Jim WestPublished On: November 5th, 20081.4 min read

Lake Mary teen counselor offers advice on technology and how it’s used as a weapon for teen abuse. Teens use technology as a way of stalking, abusing, and blackmailing others. In most relationships, Instant Messaging, texting, and social networking places such as Facebook are convenient ways to communicate. But in a growing number of teen relationships, technology is being used as a potent weapon against one another. For example, if either the boy or girl friend is not comfortable having a sexual relationship, the other may threaten to wage cyber war by spread rumors and pictures via texting and the internet.

The Teenage Research Unlimited Survey of 13-18 (2008) uncovered the following statistics regarding cyber abuse.

71% of teens recognize the seriousness of using cell phones and social networking in spreading rumors
68% see problem with sharing embarrassing pictures/videos on computers and phones
24% of teens in a relationship text or talk hourly between midnight and 5:00am
30% say they receive text messages wanting to know where they are, what
they are doing, and who they are with from their boy/girlfriend 10-30 times per hour

Cell phones and text messaging are a means for a teenager to be independent of their parents and give them assess to others at all times day and night. Consequently many parents have no idea whether their teen maintains constant contact with another nor if they are subject to cyber abuse. Parents need to be on the alert for this possibility and limit late evening cell phone and computer use.

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Author: Evelyn Wenzel, MSW, LCSW, CAP

Jim West

Adolescent Expert, Jim West offers expert advice to Local and National TV News & Schools Internationally and provides phone or face-to-face counseling in the Orlando area. Jim is an Author, Communicator, School Consultant, Nationally Certified and State Licensed Counselor and specializes in counseling for Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADD/ADHD) and Oppositional Defiance Disorder (ODD). Jim has been interviewed for multiple TV, Radio, magazine and newspaper articles. He is president of Total Life Counseling Center and his Total Life approach accelerates the therapeutic & healing process by relating to children, adolescents and adults and incorporating wellness. Jim’s clients travel from all over Florida, England, Georgia, Cayman Islands and the Bahamas as he has been able to treat clients with ADHD, Anxiety, Mood Disorders, Depression and more with FDA approved supplements and Dietary Modifications. 85% of his clients have not needed medication or used less medication than when they first came to Total Life Counseling Center.

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Filed in: Blog, Cyber Bullying, Orlando, Teens

Total Life Counseling Center consists of Licensed Counselors, masters level therapists, Español counselors, Licensed Mental Health Counselors, business coaches, and image enhancement coaches who provide counseling for emotional, mental, physical and spiritual care including marriage, individual, family, substance abuse and more. TLC’s family, trauma and marriage experts have been interviewed on National and Local TV/Radio over 200 times for their expert advice on Fox News, OWN, WETV, ABC’s Medical Minute and more. Our skilled counselors are relational, approachable and specialists providing therapy services in the Central Florida area including: Orlando, Winter Park, MetroWest, Windermere, Dr. Phillips, East Orlando, Lake Mary, and Clermont, Boca Raton Florida, and Dallas, TX.