New Issue Brief From YALSA: Libraries Help Keep Teens Safe Online

Appropriate use of the World Wide Web and social technologies by teens is of great interest and often concern to adults. These technologies provide adolescents with opportunities to interact with others, of all ages, in a variety of ways and presents new opportunities for learning, communicating and creating. However, the complexity of the online environment can be difficult for teens to grasp on their own and may lead them to make bad choices, from sexting, to bullying, to providing too much personal information, and for misuse of the online resources that are available. It is imperative, then, that all teens have access to resources and trained experts to help them gain digital literacy skills that will lead them to making smart choices online.
Librarians are uniquely positioned to support teens in their quest for learning how to use social technologies responsibly and ethically. Libraries provide teens with access to high speed Internet, digital technologies and informal and formal learning opportunities so that they can gain skills and knowledge in a wide variety of areas, including digital literacy skills and safe and smart use of technology.

The brief includes several statistics and a list of web-based resources.