Teenaged girls in a Swedish study had a far stronger negative reaction to sexual pictures and messages than boys. (Illustration photo: Banu Sevim / Shutterstock / NTB scanpix) A new study finds that Swedish boys and girls have very different reactions to sexually explicit texts. One researcher thinks this is very disheartening. By now, unless...Read More

Got story updates? Submit your updates here. › The dangerous allure of ‘looksmaxxing’ drives some teens to abuse powerful drugs meant for fattening livestock.Dallas Today In the pursuit of the perfect physique, some teenagers are turning to dangerous anabolic steroids like trenbolone, a veterinary drug used to fatten up cattle before slaughter. One 16-year-old in...Read More

Alberta’s government is investing $22 million in one-time funding to strengthen school safety through infrastructure upgrades and staff training. The province said the funding follows what it called a tragic incident in Tumbler Ridge. Related Stories: “In response to the tragedy in Tumbler Ridge, we are taking decisive action to strengthen school security and ensure...Read More

Nearly 1 in 3 teens received a sext, 1 in 4 sent one, and almost half of senders had images shared without consent. (Florida Atlantic University via SWNS) By Talker A worrying surge in “sexting” among teenagers has been revealed. One in three teens has received a “sext” while almost one in four has sent...Read More

An ally of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has proposed a bill to ban social media for children, as the world’s biggest market for Meta and YouTube joins a global debate on the impact of social media on young people’s health and safety. “Not only are our children becoming addicted to social media, but India is also...Read More

Parents have another online activity to worry about. In a new tech-driven twist on “sexting,” teenagers are having romantic and sexual conversations with artificial intelligent chatbots. The chats can range from romance- and innuendo-filled to sexually graphic and violent, according to interviews with parents, conversations posted on social media, and experts. They are largely taking...Read More

The United States office of the Surgeon General, tasked with protecting the nation’s health, recently published an advisory titled “Social Media and Youth Mental Health.(1) The Advisory describes current evidence of the impacts of social media on child and adolescent mental health, and states that current science “cannot conclude that social media is sufficiently safe...Read More

Got story updates? Submit your updates here. › The proposed release of a convicted sexual predator in Borrego Springs has sparked concerns over public safety and the need for community input.Borrego Springs Today The San Diego Superior Court has ordered the conditional release of Sexually Violent Predator Gary Snavely, and the California Department of State...Read More

Brisbane, Australia —  Fourteen-year-old cheerleader Lucy Brooks briefly lost some friends on Snapchat when Australia’s ban on social media came into effect on Wednesday. But within 24 hours, they were back. Many had made new accounts, with some borrowing the faces of parents and older friends who were happy to help them evade age detection technology....Read More

Federal Liberals voted in favour of setting 16 as the age of majority for Canadians to be able to use social media accounts. Party grassroots passed a non-binding resolution Saturday morning for the restriction and to place the onus on social media companies to enforce it. Quebec MP Rachel Bendayan, who presented the idea to...Read More