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Sex Offenders: What can be done?

Dr. Jennifer Weeks — Tue, 09 Sep 2025 13:00:00 +0000

It’s been a long time since I’ve had the time to write what’s been on my mind, but I can’t wait any longer: What can be done about the growing number of sex offenders?

My practice is growing. We are adding groups in both of our offices. While that is a good thing for my business, that’s a really bad thing for society.

Some Background About my Experience with Sex Offenders

In addition to running a therapy practice that works with individuals who have committed sex crimes, I have other gigs.

One of them is as an instructor for a school that teaches law enforcement officers to conduct polygraph examinations. I spend 20 hours with them teaching them about psychology. Last month, I spent my first day with this cohort.

One of the 18 attendees was an officer from North Carolina who is the ICAC (Internet Crimes Against Children) officer for his department. He shared with me the weekly email that he gets from NCMEC (National Center for Missing and Exploited Children).

This is one of the places that people report sexual abuse, child sexual exploitation materials, etc. They keep excellent statistics and ICAC officers get the data each week. I am a data geek and therefore asked if he could forward me the information.

My jaw dropped. Speechless.

I quickly moved into feeling overwhelmed and a bit of despair.

With nearly 20 years in the industry, I know it is bad out there. I know it is REALLY BAD.

But, I didn’t know it was this bad.

Do you believe your sexual behaviors are compulsive or harmful to you or others? Then you should take the CSBD-19 free, validated self-assessment tool.

Here’s a Snapshot

The NCMEC report that he forwarded me provided the following numbers:

In one week, NCMEC’s Cybertip line received 503,139 reports JUST from Electronic Service Providers (Kik, Snapchat, etc.)

That is over half a million reports in one week.

The public made nearly an additional 2500 reports in that week. Of those more than half million reports made just to the CyberTipline that week, over 480,000 of them were for CSAM.

To date, this year only, there have been over 12 million CSAM reports to the CyberTipline.

But there is no way for law enforcement to police these numbers.

They simply do not have the manpower to investigate every one of these tips. They not only have to investigate tips sent to their jurisdictions, they also have all other crimes to deal with outside of the CyberTipline.

There is also, unfortunately, no way to get all of the CSAM off of the web. It just can’t be done.

Again, it’s a workforce and technology thing.

I shared this with one of my colleagues at work and got a message that night that it is stuck in his head, too.

What Do We Do?

When I ask that question, I am asking it outside of the law enforcement/legal system.

I am tired of there not being really any primary prevention for CSAM use. Or any other type of sexual offending.

I am also not at all an expert in prevention outside of my work. My work is secondary or tertiary prevention depending on your point of view.

The thing that comes to mind is Education.

Parents need more education about pornography and what’s happening online.

Furthermore, children need more education and pornography literacy information.

And what do we do for the people who are engaging in offending or who are attracted to children and not offending and want to keep it that way?

We need to normalize therapy.

If you have never heard of Project Dunkelfeld in Germany, check it out. It’s one of the best examples of primary prevention of sex offenders I can point to.

Learn more about Primary Prevention and its benefits in these articles:

Next Steps in Dealing with Sex Offenders

Right now, I have no answers.

Thinking about what I can do about prevention is going to be renting a lot of space in my head for a while.

I implore all of you to think about what you can do as well.

Yes, we need to continue to report abuse when it happens.

But, wouldn’t the world be better if we could figure out how to stop sex offenders from offending in the first place?

Are you a professional looking to stay up-to-date with the latest information on, sex addiction, trauma, and mental health news and research? Or maybe you’re looking for continuing education courses? Then you should stay up-to-date with all of Dr. Jen’s work through her practice’s newsletter!

Are you a Licensed Professional Counselor seeking engaging, unique Continuing Education courses? Dr. Weeks offers accredited courses on her practice website on the effects of Pornography Abstinence and other unique topics!

Are you looking for more reputable data-backed information on sexual addiction? The Mitigation Aide Research Archive is an excellent source for executive summaries of research studies.

The post Sex Offenders: What can be done? first appeared on Dr. Jen's Recovery Readings.

Living with Sibling Sexual Abuse: A Parent’s Perspective

Dr. Jennifer Weeks — Fri, 13 Sep 2024 12:00:00 +0000

In this video I discuss the latest research on parental impact of sibling sexual abuse (SSA). The consequences are far more serious for the parents in these situations because they have to handle both the abuser and the abused child.

Learn More about Sibling Sexual Abuse

The key takeaway from the video are the challenges and the insecurities these parents experience.

Are you exploring your trauma? Do you feel your childhood experiences were detrimental to your current mental or physical health? Utilize this free, validated, self-report questionnaire to find out.

Take the Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) Questionnaire

Have you found yourself in legal trouble due to your sexual behavior? Seek assistance before the court mandates it, with Sexual Addiction Treatment Services.

Do you feel your sexual behavior, or that of someone you love, is out of control? Consult with a professional.

The post Living with Sibling Sexual Abuse: A Parent’s Perspective first appeared on Dr. Jen's Recovery Readings.

Adverse Childhood Experiences and Sibling Incest

Dr. Jennifer Weeks — Tue, 02 Apr 2024 17:15:01 +0000

I have written a little about sibling incest on this blog. It is something that’s, unfortunately, rather common and not frequently researched. I appreciate when I see research on the topic. I hold out hope for anything that can aid our understanding and guide us toward prevention and treatment.

The Study on Sibling Incest and Adverse Childhood Experiences

A study was published in 2023 in the Journal of Sexual Aggression by Tomsen and colleagues.

This study specifically looked at youth who sexually abuse through the lens of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) by comparing ACE experiences between youth who sexually harmed a sibling and those who sexually harmed a non-sibling child.

So, let’s dig right into the research.

Are you exploring your trauma? Do you feel your childhood experiences were detrimental to your current mental or physical health? Utilize this free, validated, self-report questionnaire to find out.

Take the Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) Questionnaire

Subjects of the Sibling Incest Study

The subjects were adolescent males in Australia who were referred to a Youth Forensic Service for assessment and treatment. All were between the age of 12 and 19 when they started treatment.

The study used the classic ACE questionnaire but also added their own questions to it. They added the variables of caregiver inconsistency, social isolation, bullying victimization, and poor social interaction.

They also looked at whether the youth were prone to internalizing problems (i.e., depression, anxiety), externalizing problems (i.e. aggression) or early sexual behavior problems prior to the age of 10.

Learn More about Sibling Sexual Abuse

Results of the Sibling Incest Study

The study found the youth who sexually harmed a sibling had higher ACE scores than those who sexually harmed a non-sibling. They also found significant differences in family functioning between the two groups.

The differences were found for caregiver sexual abuse victimization, caregiver mental health problems and caregiver inconsistently.

These issues were more prevalent for the youth who sexually harmed siblings.

Youth who sexually harmed siblings were also more likely to experience social isolation and bullying before the age of 12.

The youth who sexually harmed siblings were also more likely to internalize problems than externalize them.

Stay up-to-date with all of Dr. Jen’s work through her practice’s newsletter!

What does this mean for treatment?

The authors suggest this provides evidence that treatment for youth who sexually harm others needs to also include the entire family system. Not just the youth.

They also suggest that interventions for youth who sexually harm siblings should include interventions related to developing interpersonal skills and social functioning.

Reference: Thomsen, L., Ogilvie, J. & Rynne, J. (2023). Adverse childhood experiences and psychosocial functioning problems for youths who sexually harm siblings. Journal of Sexual Aggression, 29:3, 374-390.

Do you feel your sexual behavior, or that of someone you love, is out of control? Consult with a professional.

Have you found yourself in legal trouble due to your sexual behavior? Seek assistance before the court mandates it, with Sexual Addiction Treatment Services.

Are you looking for more reputable data-backed information on sexual addiction? The Mitigation Aide Research Archive is an excellent source for executive summaries of research studies.

The post Adverse Childhood Experiences and Sibling Incest first appeared on Dr. Jen's Recovery Readings.

On Getting Kicked Off YouTube

Dr. Jennifer Weeks — Fri, 08 Mar 2024 18:21:22 +0000

Some of you who read my work might know I had a little YouTube channel. I posted videos about research updates, webinars about sexual offending, problematic sexual behavior and the podcasts I do. When I say little YouTube channel, I mean little. It had 261 subscribers and a decent number of views, but it wasn’t popular due to its niche content. Friday morning, I woke up to find out I’d been kicked off YouTube. They sent an unceremonious email saying they were deleting my channel because it was “Violating their policies.”

What policies you might ask? According to YouTube, the content on my channel was violating sexual content policies. In short, I was making adult content.

The irony is both frustrating and amusing. The algorithm, or whatever AI process they use, thought that my content, created to educate about problematic sexual behavior, keep children away from pornography and decrease the risk of sexual abuse is categorized the same as me making actual pornography.

Do you believe your sexual behaviors are compulsive or harmful to you or others? Then you should take the CSBD-19 free, validated self-assessment tool.

I am fairly sure I know which video got me banned.

I posted a short video about adult-themed video games. Things got squirrelly after that. I tried educating parents and others about their existence and for what to look out for.

Banning me from YouTube makes no difference to my business. It does make me ask a simple question:

If my content, functioning hopefully to decrease sexual abuse and sexual addiction, gets kicked off YouTube, as is many of my colleagues, where are we to do prevention work?

Kicked Off YouTube, For Educating People

Social media of any kind is the place to get the word out about anything. If prevention content that includes the words pornography, sexual abuse, or pedophilia is routinely banned, where, exactly, is the right place to do this work?

It makes logical sense to be doing this work on the platforms where teenagers are routinely being sent unsolicited penis pictures. It makes sense to do this work on the number one site that people go to for information, YouTube.

Learn why it’s important for everyone, especially teens, to be able to control their online experiences. Dick Pic Culture: How do Teenage Girls Navigate it?

Forgive my frustration.

Sometimes it feels as though the only place we can speak freely about these issues, CSAM, child sexual abuse, abuse prevention, is in our professional forums or conferences. While it’s nice for us to be able to share with colleagues, it’s a bit of an echo chamber. We already know what is going on. We are not the people who need to hear the messages.

As a result of my YouTube ban, we will be posting the videos on this site in the hopes of continuing the prevention effort.

Have you found yourself in legal trouble due to your sexual behavior? Seek assistance before the court mandates it, with Sexual Addiction Treatment Services.

Do you feel your sexual behavior, or that of someone you love, is out of control? Then you should consult with a professional.

The post On Getting Kicked Off YouTube first appeared on Dr. Jen's Recovery Readings.

Sibling Sexual Abuse as Family Dysfunction

Dr. Jennifer Weeks — Wed, 06 Dec 2023 18:20:44 +0000

Here we have a research summary of a study conducted in the United Kingdom. It was a qualitative study that used thematic analysis to reflect the data of 17 interviewed survivors of sibling sexual abuse.

This means that they studied the content of the interviews and determined dominant themes from all subjects’ interviews.

This research summary continues our theme of current research on sibling sexual abuse (SSA). As I stated in my previous blog, several scientific journals have devoted a good deal of space to sibling Sexual Abuse (SSA) in the past month is both necessary and long overdue.

The study uncovered 10 predominant themes from the interviews.

Abuse and dysfunction were central components of the broad family system

The subjects reported that there was often abuse In the family between other family members outside of the SSA.

This meant, for example, that their parents were perhaps victims of sexual abuse or other family members were as well.

The subjects also identified that they came from families that held misogynistic views that included sexism and treating male and female children differently based on their gender. Therefore, these family beliefs laid the groundwork for the sibling sexual abuse to occur.

Stay up-to-date with all of Dr. Jen’s work through her practice’s newsletter!

Abuse and dysfunction were common in the nuclear family

The victims of SSA reported that there was often abuse in the nuclear family.

Furthermore, their parents often had dysfunctional relationships that included emotional, psychological, or physical abuse.

Dual status of the sibling that harmed

The sibling that perpetrated the sexual abuse was often also the victim of sexual abuse themselves. There was often a culture of acceptance of this abuse in the family.

Conflicted feelings toward the sibling that harmed

The victims of SSA often held conflicting feelings toward the sibling who harmed them.

On the one hand, they had sympathy for their sibling who was often the victim of sexual abuse themselves.

On the other hand, they often felt as though they could not forgive their sibling for hurting them.

Learn More about Sibling Sexual Abuse

Poor parental engagement and communication

Subjects reported that their parents were often absent or disengaged. This absence came in many forms.

For example, it could have been anything from the death of a parent to work outside the home or parental divorce.

The victims often felt as though there was parental disengagement even if both parents were in the home. This parental disengagement provided a situation where the abusive sibling often had power and control as they were often older and put in a position of authority due to the parental absence.

The parental disengagement also meant that the victims did not feel as though they could go to their parents for support.

Parents had poor and inconsistently enforced boundaries

Parents often had poor boundaries around sex, sexuality, and pornography. This normalized sexual behavior and the daughters often felt more sexualized while the sons were not challenged for overtly sexual behavior.

Are you a Licensed Professional Counselor in need of continuing education? Learn more about Sex Addiction, Erotic Conflict, and Moral Incongruence from Dr. Weeks and Sexual Addiction Treatment Services, an NBCC ACEP™ approved provider!

Sexual Addiction Treatment Services has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 7250. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Sexual Addiction Treatment Services is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.

Denial of Abuse

When the victims in this study did disclose the sibling sexual abuse to their parents, their parents often did not believe them or did not want to talk about the issue.

Furthermore, parents often were unwilling or unable to acknowledge what was happening in the family.

Normalization of dysfunction and acceptance of abuse

Because of the dysfunction in the family as well as the larger family circle, the victims often felt that how the family acted was normal and acceptable. Therefore, they did not know any other way that a family could be.

Clarity was found from gaining distance from the family

The victims often did not realize that their family was dysfunctional until they removed themselves from the family system. Once outside of the system, they came to realize that both the family dysfunction and the abuse were not normal and were not ok.

Not all families that experience SSA are the same

The authors are keen to point out that not all of the families of the victims interviewed in this study were the same and they are not all dysfunctional.

Based on the data, the authors that that treating instances of SSA should not be done on an individual basis. The entire family needs to play a role in treatment as often the beliefs that need to be identified and challenged are held by the family system as well. A whole family approach to treatment is required.

Reference: McCarten, K., King-Hill, S. & Gilsenan, A. (2023). Sibling sexual abuse: a form of family dysfunction as opposed to individualised behavior. Journal of Sexual Aggression, 29:3, 427-439

Have you found yourself in legal trouble due to your sexual behavior? Seek assistance before the court mandates it, with Sexual Addiction Treatment Services.

Do you feel your sexual behavior, or that of someone you love, is out of control? Then you should consult with a professional.

Are you looking for more reputable data-backed information on sexual addiction? The Mitigation Aide Research Archive is an excellent source for executive summaries of research studies.

The post Sibling Sexual Abuse as Family Dysfunction first appeared on Dr. Jen's Recovery Readings.

Sibling Sexual Abuse: A Parental Perspective

Dr. Jennifer Weeks — Fri, 17 Nov 2023 21:03:12 +0000

In the last month, several scientific journals have published special issues focusing on the topic of Sibling Sexual Abuse (SSA).

Despite the incredible prevalence of SSA, the topic is not well researched.

As a therapist and forensic evaluator, I’m overjoyed to see research on a topic that has long been an issue.

Looking at Sibling Sexual Abuse From a Different Angle

When SSA occurs, it affects the entire family.

This article looks at the experience of living through the disclosure and aftermath of SSA from the perspective of the parents.

What little research that is published has not yet focused on this topic.

This study, published in the Journal of Sexual Aggression, interviewed 5 parents from Sweden whose family had experienced SSA reported to authorities.

The victims in these situations were all prepubescent children. The child who caused harm was placed outside the home for a period of time in a treatment facility.

The study used an in-depth interview style called Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis to determine common themes from the experiences of the parents.

From the interviews, the authors found several themes.

Do you believe your sexual behaviors are compulsive or harmful to you or others? Then you should take the CSBD-19 free, validated self-assessment tool.

Sibling Sexual Abuse: Insecurity and New Challenges

Parenting now involves insecurity and new challenges.

Parents shared that whatever their parenting style was before the disclosure, it was forever altered. Many felt as though they were now guarding infants. They struggled to figure out how to manage the needs of one child without negatively affecting the other child or children.

If they were doing something to support the child who caused harm, how was that affecting the child who was harmed?

The parents struggled to manage their own emotions. Understandably, the experience left the parents with very strong and very conflicting emotions.

Finally, the parents also struggled with the ability to obtain guidance and support from professionals.

All of these families were involved with the child welfare system based on the SSA and the families felt that the system did not provide them with enough support.

Learn More about Sibling Sexual Abuse

The Family Unit is Altered

The disclosure of SSA often caused the parental duties to be split. Therefore, parents felt like they had to choose which child they needed to protect.

The harmed child needed support and care. The child who caused harm also needed parental care and advocacy in the system.

Parents reported harmed and non-harmed siblings often felt abandoned when they went to visit the sibling who caused harm or did things to support that sibling.

Parents also shared the change in the family unit included extended family such as grandparents.

The Parent’s Relationship is Altered

Parents shared that their relationship took a back seat to everything else going on in the family. They lacked any time to work on their marriage.

They felt that their personal lives disappeared while the well-being of all of the children became the only priority.

The disclosure of the SSA in the family also had an effect on the sexuality of the parents. It made them look at sex and sexuality differently.

Stay up-to-date with all of Dr. Jen’s work through her practice’s newsletter!

The Family Adapts after Sibling Sexual Abuse

Despite the disclosure of SSA having many negative impacts on all involved, parents did share there was some positive growth:

The family increased in closeness.
All of the children learned to manage their emotions in a healthier manner.
The parents worked to ensure they improved their relationship with their children so they felt they could come to their parents with questions and troubles.

The Takeaways

Parents need more help! Parents had to repeatedly ask professionals for assistance. Often non-abused siblings were not offered support though they were experiencing trauma from the event as well.
Parents feel disconnected, unsafe, and helpless. However, many of them were able to turn to their partners for support and improve the quality of their relationship with their children.
Parents lacked support from outside of the family. Parents felt as though people in their lives underestimated the emotional strain and burden they were experiencing.

For Professionals: Supporting Parents of Sibling Sexual Abuse

There is an extensive need for support from qualified professionals in the field.
The professionals in the field lack adequate skills and knowledge to help families.
The professional community needs to attend to the needs of the entire family including non-harmed siblings and the extended family.

Limitations of the Study

Every study has limitations.

This study employed a very small sample size.

The authors acknowledge that the data may not be generalizable to other SSA experiences and that the experiences of the parents in this study might not reflect the experiences of most parents in this situation.

Reference: Westergren, M., Kjellgren, C., & Nygaard, K., (2023). Living through the experience of sibling sexual abuse: parents’ perspectives. Journal of Sexual Aggression, 29:3, 343-358

Have you found yourself in legal trouble due to your sexual behavior? Seek assistance before the court mandates it, with Sexual Addiction Treatment Services.

Do you feel your sexual behavior, or that of someone you love, is out of control? Then you should consult with a professional.

The post Sibling Sexual Abuse: A Parental Perspective first appeared on Dr. Jen's Recovery Readings.

New Efforts to Protect Teens on Snapchat

Mike — Wed, 13 Sep 2023 20:22:34 +0000

Protections for teens on Snapchat have been slow coming and lacking features of other social media competitors.¹

This post contains affiliate links. The author or blog owner may earn a commission if you make a purchase using these links.

Last week Snap Inc., Snapchat’s parent company, released a group of new features targeting 13-17 year olds on the platform. These new features are designed to create a “more age-appropriate viewing experience.”²

But what draws teens, drug dealers³, and those looking to sexually exploit teens to Snapchat?

The Myth of Security on Snapchat

Snapchat’s primary appeal is its perceived security.

Disappearing messages and images, combined with the gamification of “snap streaks,” makes the platform appealing to teens.

The former is also what draws people with untoward intent to Snapchat. The promise of being able to disappear.

The Anatomy of a Snap

Users can send texts, images from their camera roll, and images/videos taken with the app, known as snaps, within a conversation.

Unless texts, images, or snaps are saved to the chat, they disappear after viewing, or within 24 hours. Further, snaps can be set to disappear immediately after viewing, with the ability to view them a second time, or to be retained if the receiver saves the snap.

However, users can retain messages by saving them to the chat, taking a screenshot, or saving them to camera roll. The last two options will send a notification so the sender knows what’s happening with the content.

On the other hand, if a user uses a third-party application, not the built-in screenshot method, to record the screen, no notification will be sent. I bring this up to reinforce the fact that things that happen online can last forever.

See the latest research on criminality related to social media:

Social Anxiety and Loneliness in Online Solicitation Offenders

See more articles related to social media

What are the New Features Protecting Teens on Snapchat?

Safer Contact
- In-App Warnings
  - A warning pops up if a teen adds someone who isn’t in their phone’s contacts and they don’t share enough mutuals with.
- Stronger Friending Protections
  - Higher number of mutual friends before Snapchat recommends someone. As well as requiring a higher number of mutuals before allowing a friend request to happen.
New Strike System for Accounts Promoting Age-Inappropriate Content
- Content promoted by media organizations, verified creators, and random users is vetted to ensure age appropriateness. Violations result in content, then accounts being removed.
Education About Common Online Risks
- Informational productions created in conjunction with the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) about:
  - Catfishing
  - Financial sextortion
  - Taking and sharing explicit images
  - And more

Accessible via parents.snapchat.com, a handy family center walks parents through the process of setting up an account for themselves and their children with both text and videos.

However, the protections offered are predicated on parents setting up a child’s account. If your child created an account without your knowledge, you’re out of luck.

If you’re unfamiliar with sextortion, check out Dr. Jen’s article How to Protect Your Child from Sextortion.

How do Other Social Media Apps Protect Teens?

YouTube and TikTok are the most used apps by teens. Occupying spots three and four are Instagram and Snapchat.⁴

I’ll quickly eliminate YouTube and TikTok. Because the former doesn’t have messaging, and the latter has limited messaging capabilities.

Instagram allows users to send text, pictures, and videos and has taken extra steps in utilizing AI to:

Identify problematic accounts⁵
Blur images that may contain “sensitive media”⁶

Both of these technologies are available to Snapchat, but aren’t utilized.

Protecting teens on Snapchat, particularly young girls, from unsolicited explicit images should be paramount.

“…adolescents often underestimate risks and perceive greater potential benefits from risky behavior.”
Smith, Chein, and Steinberg, 2014

Protecting Teens on Snapchat is Secondary to Profits

There is a fundamental disconnect between management and reality about how Snapchat is used. Beyond understanding its usage, particularly teens on Snapchat, executives don’t understand how users get their apps. When called before congress, Snap’s executives weren’t able to answer why their app is rated differently between devices and app stores.⁷

Furthermore, the measures designed to save teens from themselves are invasive. The in-app warnings require teens share their contact list with Snapchat. While this is an opt-in feature, it is still an invasion of privacy.

Matters that concern privacy should always be opt-in, especially for teens.

Learn why it’s important for everyone, especially teens, to be able to control their online experiences. Dick Pic Culture: How do Teenage Girls Navigate it?

Using AI for Fun and Profit

An artificial intelligence was released earlier this year, called “My AI.” It was marked for wide-release to all Snapchat accounts on February 27.

A journalist at the Washington Post created an account posing as a thirteen year old. The artificial intelligence engaged in discussions about sexual relationships and alcohol with that user.

Contrary to their guidelines, My AI wasn’t adjusted for age-appropriateness. Consequently, teens on Snapchat are now being exposed to explicit talk from peers, older people, and machines.

Again, Snap Inc seems more interested in “moving fast and breaking things” to capitalize on tech buzz than ensuring the safety of teens on Snapchat.

Separating Moral Panic from Reality to Protect Your Teens on Snapchat

Even though I’m not a fan of the business model of monetizing users against their will, I do believe that Snapchat can be a valuable outlet for teens.

Teens need to feel a sense of security and privacy to talk to their friends. They also need to be included in the now-integral to life social media experience.

But this doesn’t change the fact that teenagers are prone to taking risks without considering consequences.⁸ Fostering healthy emotional development starts at home.

Creating an open environment to discuss concerns and experiences starts long before your child asks for Snapchat. Put in the work as a parent, build mutual trust.

After you’ve formed that foundation, it’s much easier to give them freedom to explore safely.

And with your oversight.

TL/DR

Snapchat needs to do more to protect teens and be a better steward of social media.
Parents need to create an environment that fosters mutual trust.
Teens need to feel free to explore and secure enough to ask for advice.
Parents can visit parents.snapchat.com for more information about how Snapchat is helping them to protect their children.

References

Snap’s Dangerous New AI Risks Exposing Children to Sexual Exploitation and Abuse EndSexualExploitation.org ↩︎
Introducing New Safeguards to Protect our Community values.snap.com ↩︎
When one pill kills NBCNews.com ↩︎
Teens and social media: Key findings from Pew Research Center surveys PewResearch.org ↩︎
What’s Being Done to Protect Teens on Instagram and Messenger? DrJensRecoveryReadings.com ↩︎
Updates to the Sensitive Content Control about.instagram.com ↩︎
YouTube and Snapchat were asked to defend their apps’ age ratings in Senate hearing TechCrunch.com ↩︎
The Current Landscape of Adolescent Risk Behavior National Library of Medicine www.NCBI.NLM.NIH.gov ↩︎

For an in-depth guide on talking to your adolescents about cybersex and pornography, check out Dr. Jen’s book. Amazon | BookBaby

Have you found yourself in legal trouble due to your sexual behavior? Seek assistance before the court mandates it, with Sexual Addiction Treatment Services.

Do you feel your sexual behavior, or that of someone you love, is out of control? Then you should consult with a professional.

The post New Efforts to Protect Teens on Snapchat first appeared on Dr. Jen's Recovery Readings.

What’s Being Done to Protect Teens on Instagram and Messenger?

Mike — Sun, 09 Jul 2023 22:16:00 +0000

Meta, Facebook and Instagram’s parent company, will be using automated systems and giving parents more visibilityto protect teens on their platforms.

How Does Meta Currently Protect Teens?

Prior to these latest changes, Meta already did the following:

Messages to teens from adults over 19 are blocked, unless the teen follows the adult
Teens receive safety notices when messaged by adults who have previously exhibited suspicious behavior
“Take a Break”
- Suggests taking a break after scrolling for a ‘certain amount of time’
- Daily Limit, allowing users to set a maximum amount of time in the app
Quiet Mode: limits notifications and messages when enabled

See the latest research on criminality related to social media:

Social Anxiety and Loneliness in Online Solicitation Offenders

See more articles related to social media

What are the new features?

The following features, available in the US, UK, and Canada to start, rolled out on June 27, 2023.

Invites for DM

Adults must now send an invite to connect via direct message. Only one invite is allowed to be sent per day, limiting the reach of potential abuse on the platforms. This limit is lifted if the teen follows the adult sending the message.

Text Only

All new message requests will be text only. No photos, videos, voice messages, or calls will be accepted until the invite is approved. While not perfect, it will limit abuse.

Learn why it’s important for everyone, especially teens, to be able to control their online experiences. Dick Pic Culture: How do Teenage Girls Navigate it?

Managing Time to Protect Teens

Meta has finally acknowledging that outside influences aren’t the only way their platforms can harm teens.

When a ‘Take a Break’ message comes up, it will recommend teens set a reminder to stop scrolling. During focus testing, “more than 90% of teens keep these reminders on.”

‘Take a Break’ will also expand to include Facebook. Facebook’s explicit limit will be 20 minutes. Unlike Instagram’s vague, ‘a certain amount of time.’

Meta is exploring a nudge that will suggest teens close the app if they’re scrolling Reels at night.

Quiet mode will be expanding globally in coming weeks.

If you’re unfamiliar with sextortion, check out Dr. Jen’s article How to Protect Your Child from Sextortion.

Additional Parental Supervision to Protect Teens

Meta is giving parents a bigger window into their teens’ activities online.

When a teen blocks someone, Instagram will suggest the teen allows their parents to supervise their account.

Parents with access will now be able to see mutuals of both followers and those following their teens.

Meta has also expanded options for notifications from Parental Supervision on Instagram.

Conclusion

All of these tools are a good start, but it can’t replace having an actual conversation with your child.

Don’t let a billion dollar company be the medium you use to communicate with your children. Sit them down and talk to them about the realities of an always-connected world.

Link to Meta’s Post on these updates.

For an in-depth guide on talking to your adolescents about cybersex and pornography, check out Dr. Jen’s book. Amazon | BookBaby

Stay up-to-date with all of Dr. Jen’s work through her practice’s newsletter!

The post What’s Being Done to Protect Teens on Instagram and Messenger? first appeared on Dr. Jen's Recovery Readings.

How to do Primary Prevention and More

Dr. Jennifer Weeks — Fri, 24 Feb 2023 18:59:44 +0000

My reading over coffee this morning was a great article in Time Magazine about moving the US toward the primary prevention of child sexual abuse, a front page Wall Street Journal article about child predators using TikTok to gain access to victims and my first moderately threatening troll comments on a webinar on my YouTube page.

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Primary Prevention vs Secondary Prevention

Let’s start with the Time Magazine article. This article, entitled America Has been going about stopping child sex abuse the wrong way, was written by Elizabeth Letourneau and Luke Malone.

Elizabeth Letourneau is the Director of the Moore Center for the Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse at John Hopkins. Luke Malone is an award winning journalist who writes about child sexual abuse and victimization.

Reading this article this morning felt very validating.

When I teach to LEO or other mental health professionals, I discuss how the US is very good at secondary prevention but not so good at primary prevention. Meaning, once we catch someone AFTER they have abused a child, the system is relatively good at holding them accountable. That includes: mandating treatment during incarceration and/or after while the person is on probation or parole.

This is secondary prevention. We work hard to prevent ANOTHER sexual assault from happening.

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How should we do Primary Prevention?

Primary prevention, meaning we prevent the FIRST sexual assault from happening is not something our system is very good at.

Much of the teaching puts the onus on potential victims to stop potential assault rather than putting the responsibility on the abuser. This would be primary prevention.

Some other countries have done a better job at this and I point to Project Dunkelfeld in Germany. There, a person who is concerned they may offend against a child can call a program and receive treatment. The treatment program is publicly advertised and funded.

In the United States, for every $1 spent toward prevention research, $2700 is spent on incarcerating offenders. They also discuss current research projects that are working on ways of improving and increasing primary prevention in the US.

The authors have a book coming out at some point which I look forward to reading.

Learn more about Primary Prevention and its benefits in these articles:

Child Predators on TikTok

This app has made it big! They made it to the front page of the Wall Street Journal, a paper noted more for discussing financial markets than sexual abuse.

The WSJ featured an article discussing how TikTok has quickly become an avenue for child abusers to find and groom victims.

Those of us in the field have known this for some time.

It’s good to see it make the front page. Perhaps parents will read the article and start to monitor what their children are doing on the app. Frequently, there is little parental oversight on social media apps which leads some children to be vulnerable to predation.

If you’re unfamiliar with sextortion, check out Dr. Jen’s article How to Protect Your Child from Sextortion.

YouTube Trolls

Finally, to my first troll. I awoke this morning to some comments on a webinar on my YouTube channel about treating individuals with pedophilia. The comments were not surprising, but disappointing.

The person commented that I was an “intellectual” who should be “purged.” They made traditionally stereotypical comments about people who commit sex crimes needing to be beat up or killed. Though, in my mind, I made many replies, I have long ago learned that social media repartee with folks with strong but uninformed opinions goes nowhere.

So, to end my morning coffee, I simply reported them for making threats. Then I began my day of working in secondary prevention of sexual abuse.

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Have you found yourself in legal trouble due to your sexual behavior? Seek assistance before the court mandates it, with Sexual Addiction Treatment Services.

For an in-depth guide on talking to your adolescents about cybersex and pornography, check out Dr. Jen’s book. Amazon | BookBaby

The post How to do Primary Prevention and More first appeared on Dr. Jen's Recovery Readings.

How to Protect Your Child from Sextortion

Dr. Jennifer Weeks — Tue, 20 Dec 2022 15:44:20 +0000

Yesterday, the FBI released a statement warning about the dangers and rising rates of online extortion of children. This story has blown up all over the national news. While I am happy to see this issue get the attention it deserves, I feel as though the FBI is a little late in warning about sextortion.

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In 2016, I wrote the now outdated book, The New Age of Sex Education: How to talk to your teen about cybersex and pornography in the digital age. Children being sextorted was an issue then, though not as common as now.

How does this Happen?

Children (and adults for that matter) are online all the time.

This may be social media such as Instagram, Snapchat, or TikTok. They are posting content, talking to people, and generally doing what kids do. While these apps can be a great source of connection and information, there is always a dark side.

If someone’s account is not set to private, anyone can contact you. The individuals that are going to groom, manipulate or extort someone will follow, comment or direct message (DM).

The relationship grows. It often moves to a chat app like Kik and where the victim will send pictures of themselves. These can be anything from simply sexy to overtly sexual images or videos.

Not everyone who does this is looking to extort the child. Many individuals who are engaging in this behavior are sexually offending and with no financial motivation.

Do you believe your sexual behaviors are compulsive or harmful to you or others? Then you should take the CSBD-19 free, validated self-assessment tool.

The Demand

If the motivation of the individual is extortion, very quickly after receiving a video or image, there is an extortion demand. They ask for money; we often see the number $7500 being asked of our clients.

If the money is not paid, the threat is that the extorter will then post and share the sexual images to the child’s social media accounts, send to parents, family members, friends, etc.

We have had many adult clients who have had this happen and are so ashamed that they simply pay the money and hope it goes away.

If they do not pay the money, the threats can escalate and be very harassed.

Ultimately, sometimes the person’s images end up being posted.

When the victim of extortion is a minor, the shame and embarrassment often induce them to stay silent. Unlike adult victims who may have access to money, most minor victims do not which leaves them more vulnerable.

The mental health impacts of this victimization are very serious, and the FBI reported that many of the victims have turned to suicide.

Learn why it’s important for everyone, especially teens, to be able to control their online experiences. Dick Pic Culture: How do Teenage Girls Navigate it?

What can a parent do to prevent sextortion?

The first thing to do is to talk to your child about the internet, privacy and who they are talking to online.
- Online communication are part of their cultural norm. We are not going to stop it, so children need to be informed about risk.
Parents need to know what their children are doing online and on their phone.
- Know what apps they are using.
- Know whether they have social media accounts.
- Be aware of hidden social media accounts that kids often make and keep from their parents.
Parents need to be open, non-shaming and available to talk about sex, sex education and sexuality with their children.
- Do not assume that they are too young to learn about digital sexuality.
- Do not assume that school will take care of this education.
- Many parents are uncomfortable talking about sex in general and even more so with their children. Get educated, acknowledge that the talks are awkward and have them with your children anyway. And have them often. This creates an environment where your child will feel more comfortable coming to you if there is an issue.

If you or your child are the victim of this type of crime, please contact your local police department or the FBI.

If you are seeking counseling for issues related to this type of victimization, please contact our office at www.sexualaddictiontreatmentservices.com or 610-844-7180.

For an in-depth guide on talking to your adolescents about cybersex and pornography, check out Dr. Jen’s book. Amazon | BookBaby

Do you feel your sexual behavior, or that of someone you love, is out of control? Then you should consult with a professional.

The post How to Protect Your Child from Sextortion first appeared on Dr. Jen's Recovery Readings.