Sex. Well, I hope I got your attention. Sex is what I have been researching for the last week and a half. More specifically, I am learning about adults with disabilities and sex. I have discovered that this category branches into other important subjects, including Internet harassment. Students with disabilities are four times as likely to be sexually assaulted, more specifically, by someone they know, or trust. Recently, there has been a trend of young adults with disabilities forming relationships with people without disabilities. These young adults begin to trust their Internet friend, who has motives beyond friendship. The same scenarios can be reflected onto a young adult without disabilities, but these individuals are better able to understand the potential danger of their Internet matchmaking.
Pewinternet addresses valid arguments regarding the dangers of the Internet. Amanda Lenhart's article, Cyberbulling and Online Teens notes that one in eight girls between 15-17 have sent an aggressive or threatening message online. A male in the same age group is quoted as saying that the best pranks are scaring girls, and he even goes as far as saying that it is funny to threaten their lives. Although every category of respondents agreed that bullying offline is more severe than bullying online, I believe that most of the kids surveyed do not think of bullying offline as a result of online information. Bullying offline includes physical actions, which are almost always considered more drastic than words on a screen, but those words can lead to discrimination and misconceptions about others.
Many students with disabilities find the Internet an outlet to the "normal" world. I am nervous that the students I work with become incorrectly involved with the Internet. We can only do our best to enable them to make the correct choices to protect their health and safety.
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