By Luskin Center for Innovation staff

As Internet use by children and teenagers increases, so do concerns about their online safety. Providing a safe environment requires an in-depth understanding of the types and prevalence of online risks young Internet users face, as well as the potential solutions for mitigating risks.

A team at the Luskin Center led by Public Policy professor John Villasenor conducted a review of existing research on online safety and then identified knowledge gaps and recommendations for specific areas of research to further the policy dialogue regarding online safety. These findings and recommendations are summarized in a paper released today by the Brookings Institution.

This paper is timely because, despite the significant amount of research on these risks, improving youth Internet safety remains a challenge. In part, this is because definitions of terms and categories relevant to online safety, such as “cyberbullying,” often vary, making the comparison of statistics and findings among sources imprecise. In addition, there are complex overlaps among different online safety subtopics.

The paper was authored by John Villasenor, graduate student Adina Farrukh and researcher Rebecca Sadwick. Read the full paper here.