How to Decode Signs of Sexual Cyberbullying and Support Teens and Youth explains how to identify, recognize, and support youth who may experience and/or engage in sexual cyberbullying.a,b This primer from Activate is meant for professionals who support young people who experience the child welfare and/or juvenile justice systems, homelessness, and/or disconnection from school and work (i.e., opportunity youth).
Sexual cyberbullying is a broad term used to describe any sexually aggressive or coercive behavior facilitated by technology to intentionally harm, embarrass, threaten, or intimidate another person.c Youth can experience and/or engage in sexual cyberbullying.
Sexual cyberbullying is harmful to all youth, especially youth who have experienced trauma,1,2 unstable living arrangements,3 and/or a lack of supportive adults in their lives.4,5 Furthermore, some youth may rely on digital platforms to stay connected with family and friends from whom they have been separated and experience an increased risk for sexual cyberbullying.6–8
Decoding Sexual Cyberbullying Behaviors
What does sexual cyberbullying look like?
Sexual cyberbullying behaviors include:
The following chart describes sexual cyberbullying behaviors and examples of each sexual cyberbullying behavior. This graphic can be downloaded here.
Sexual Cyberbullying Behaviors
Where does sexual cyberbullying happen?
Although online platforms allow young people to communicate, and to easily and directly connect with peers, they can also be used to search for people or post information anonymously. Professionals should be aware of social media and dating apps young people frequently use, as well as their logos. A 2024 Pew Research Center publication—Teens and Social Media Fact Sheet—provides more information about how teens use online platforms.17 A recent literature review examined what is known about how sexual harassment is facilitated by dating apps.18
You can help youth protect themselves. Youth need to know how to use these settings for each app to protect their personal information and minimize their risk for experiencing sexual cyberbullying.19,20 Every app has its own privacy and location settings.d For example, youth should know whether their posts on different apps are public or private, whether the app is tracking their location, and whether it sells their personal information to third parties.
Decoding Signs of Sexual Cyberbullying
Some factors may put young people at higher risk of experiencing and/or engaging in sexual cyberbullying behaviors, while others may protect young people against experiencing or engaging in those behaviors. Not all young people who exhibit risk factors will experience and/or engage in sexual cyberbullying. However, youth-supporting professionals should be aware of these factors and be prepared to talk about sexual cyberbullying with youth who exhibit them.
Understanding how young people describe sexual cyberbullying can help youth-supporting professionals identify when sexual cyberbullying is occurring.
In addition to slang, emojis may also have sexual connotations. Be aware that youth may talk through emojis, and the meaning of emojis change frequently. Talk with youth to determine whether they are experiencing sexual cyberbullying and/or sexually cyberbullying others.
The quotes in the graphic below are examples and include vernacular terms/slang that young people and youth-supporting professionals report commonly hearing. However, slang changes over time and varies by geography and culture, among other factors. The slang used in these examples may not match the slang you hear from youth.
A youth who is experiencing sexual cyberbullying may say:
A youth who is sexually cyberbullying others may say:
Decoding How to Help Youth
- Teach young people how to use privacy and location settings to protect their personal information and minimize their risk for experiencing sexual cyberbullying.
- Educate young people on how to use technology safely and protect themselves against malicious behavior online by teaching them the signs of sexual cyberbullying.
- Learn about sexual cyberbullying laws within your state. There is variation from state to state in what is considered sexual cyberbullying,31 so make sure you know the laws within your state and have conversations with youth about those laws.
- Have routine conversations with young people to teach them about sexual cyberbullying, including what it looks like, why it is harmful, and whether to do anything/what to do if they are experiencing and/or engaging in sexual cyberbullying.
- Discuss consent with young people and ensure they know that photos of themselves or others should not be shared without permission.
- Demonstrate support for young people who have experienced sexual cyberbullying by asking them what they need.
- Demonstrate support for youth who cyberbully others by asking about their understanding of their behavior, explaining reasons why sexual cyberbullying is not acceptable, and connecting them to services to understand the root causes of their behavior, if needed.
- Connect youth with local services (e.g., counseling, digital safety courses, legal consultation) to support their mental health and legal needs after sexual cyberbullying occurs.
Prepare for conversations about sexual cyberbullying by reviewing these resources:
Privacy Settings for Social Media Apps
A youth centered resource that shares links to privacy settings instructions for popular social media sites.
Project iGuardian
Program to keep teens and youth safe from online predators through education and awareness.
National Sexual Violence Resource Center
Center that provides information to prevent and respond to in-person and cyber sexual violence.
The Cyberbullying Research Center
Center that provides information to prevent, identify, and respond to instances of cyberbullying.
Cyberbullying Laws
Online tool that summarizes cyberbullying laws in each state.
What Is Consent?
Online resource to help people understand what consent looks like.
Without My Consent
Online resource that provides multiple tools to fight online harassment.
Let’s Talk Consent
A flyer explaining consent with additional resources.
Suggested citation: Schlecht, C., Griffin, A.M., Rosenberg, R. (2024). How to decode signs of sexual cyberbullying and support teens and youth. Child Trends. https://activatecenter.org/resource/how-to-decode-signs-of-sexual-cyberbullying-and-support-teens-and-youth/
Footnotes
[a] The information provided in this resource is based on Activate’s summary of research on sexual cyberbullying.
[b] We use “experience and/or engage in sexual cyberbullying” to refer to youth who experience sexual cyberbullying, engage in behaviors of sexual cyberbullying, or both. This language is purposeful and YSP should avoid labeling youth as victims or perpetrators in this work.
[c] The term “cyber” may be outdated and not relevant to youth. However, it is still used in the literature. Youth-supporting professionals should consider using other terms such as online or electronic or ask young people what words they would use.
[d] At the time of publication, Senate bill 1409: Kids Online Safety Act passed the U.S. Senate with bipartisan support and will move to the House of Representatives. The bill aims to hold tech companies such as Facebook accountable for harmful online behavior such as bullying and sexual cyberbullying. The bill requires tech companies to use a “duty of care” and default settings as the safest possible.
The full list of references are included in the PDF of this report: https://activatecenter.org/resource/how-to-decode-signs-of-sexual-cyberbullying-and-support-teens-and-youth/
Acknowledgements: The authors would like to thank the many contributors to this resource. Experts who informed the resource include Lindsay White, BA, Amandalyn Stallings, BA, Isiah Jiron, Rebecca Gudeman, JD, Eddie Sumlin, BA, Christopher Drescher, PhD, and Mason Persons. Thank you also to the several youth-supporting professionals, young people, and other experts who contributed but are not named here. We also thank Activate project team members who assisted in the development of this resource, including Jan DeCoursey, project director, Mindy Scott, principal investigator, Dane Rivas-Koehl, designer, Gabriella Guerra, designer and web design, Amy Dworsky, co-principal investigator, Matthew Rivas-Koehl, fact check, and Ana Maria Pavic, dissemination. We are grateful for the contributions of other Child Trends and Chapin Hall staff who contributed to this resource including Jenita Parekh, senior research scientist. Finally, a special thank you to the Child Trends communications staff, especially Olga Morales, Catherine Nichols, Brent Franklin, and Stephen Russ.