During online learning, teenagers might face various dangers including cyber aggression, sexual predators and virtual manipulation.
Sexologists Petra Sejbalová and Jana Martincová explain that parents should teach children how to avoid dangerous situations on the Internet.
According to the last year’s research, most Czech teenagers find information about sex education online or through their classmates. Sexologists claim that teenagers can become victims of cyber aggression.
“Unfortunately, long-term online education [does not help the situation], which is literally an open door for sexual predators,” Sejbalová, the head of the Sexology Department of the University Hospital Brno, stated. Instead of studying at school and spending time with friends in person, students can stumble upon unknown individuals on the internet.
Specialists recommend that parents should start explaining to their children how to use the internet safely and to avoid contact with unwanted people from the age of eight. Based on the research, quality sex education from parents and schools can prevent children from contacting online manipulators.
“Children who are educated at home and school less often become victims of online sexual predators and can deal with them better,” Martincová, the author of sex education books, explained.
Nearly 64 percent of teenagers who educated themselves on sexual topics watched pornography. Meanwhile, in families with better sexual education, only one-third of children admitted to watching adult content.
Currently, only the first two classes of primary school study in the offline regime. Other pupils study online. However, the government promised to prepare a plan for a gradual return of students to schools from March.
