The researchers have claimed that at least one in four children told that they were pressurized by their friends. Researcher Thomas J. Holt said, “This is not to downplay the danger of pedophiles acting online, but it does draw attention to the potential threat of child sexual victimisation by the people our kids are closest to, the people they spend the greatest amount of time with online.”
The study stated that the children with low self esteem and were more harassed online and even though parental-filtering was under-taken, it noted that 24 percent of the respondents were harassed so far.
The researcher informed that such a sensitive issue could not be solved technologically but only after deep and understanding conversation between the child and parent is engaged.
He added that such conversations could be tricky and difficult to deal with since they relate to sex and such an open dialogue can minimize the risk of any harassment. The research is published in the Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice.