re:publica Vienna: THE TIME HAS COME FOR SEXUAL MEDIA LITERACY - MADITA OEMING

From pornography and sexting to dick pics, deepfakes, and cyber grooming: sexual media use and digital sexual boundary violations are now part of teenagers' online everyday life, and quite often even of children’s. We, as parents, schools, and the state, should not leave them alone with this. Over 80% of 12-year-olds today have their own smartphone and are alone online, where they will sooner or later encounter sexual content or interactions: whether intentionally while curious browsing for porn, during first infatuated sexting attempts, or unintentionally in class chats and online gaming with strangers. Avoiding this is only partially possible, but we can prepare them for it: with sexual media literacy. So they can categorize images, protect their data, know their rights, and feel, communicate, and respect boundaries. Whether porn literacy, safer sexting strategies, or early detection and reporting options for cyber grooming – knowledge protects! This lecture delves into the digital everyday life of teenagers and advocates for not leaving them alone there with sexual experiences or boundary violations.