CYBERSPACE – A new study released this month by a research teams from a major American university highlights something members of the adult internet community have long known; when it comes to the debate over teen Internet use, exposure to porn is clearly not the most serious concern to be addressed.A new study published by Cornell University on the use of the Web by children and teens highlights the pros and cons of message boards and websites that serve, ostensibly, as online “support groups” for self-injuring teens.

While the Cornell study found that such message boards give many ostracized teens a place where they feel safe to talk about their secrets, researchers also warned that some postings on these message boards reinforce, even encourage, self-injury and could serve as a “social contagion” for at-risk teens.

“Internet message boards provide a powerful vehicle for bringing self-injurious adolescents together, and to a great extent, they provide a safe forum and a source of valuable support for teens who might otherwise feel marginalized and who may be struggling with shame,” said Janis Whitlock, director of the Cornell Research Program on Self-Injurious Behaviors.

Whitlock cautioned, though, that viewing the sites does appear to exacerbate the cutting problem in some cases.

“The handful of self-injurers we spoke to said their injuries got worse when they were there [on the websites],” Whitlock said.

The Cornell study examined “normal behavior” in chat rooms and the use of message boards by adolescents. Researchers studied a pool of 406 message boards to learn how young people seek out and share information about self-injury. The Cornell researchers then analyzed over 3,200 postings across 10 different message boards that focused specifically on the topic of self-injury.

While most messages posted were supportive and included discussions of triggers, motivations, and concealment, about six-percent of the posts were requests to share techniques however, and some posts amounted to little more than “tips” on methods and implements for self-mutilation. The majority of postings were from users claiming to be females between the ages of 14 and 20 years old.

“Our greatest concern is that it could be difficult to leave the behavior if you’ve finally found a community that you never had before,” said John Eckenrode, a professor of human development at Cornell and third co-author listed on the study. “Another concern is that this could be a toxic virtual environment that kids are stumbling into, just the way kids stumble into people who are predatory.”

In an observation that will strike a chord with adult webmasters, one analyst noted that this study again underscores a lack of involvement on the part of parents.

“If your kid is posting on a public message board and everyone else knows about it but you, then the problem starts with you, the parent,” Joe Wilcox, analyst for Jupiter Research said in an interview with TechNewsWorld.

“Sure, there may be a legitimate problem, but like many other problems you can’t blame it on the internet,” Wilcox added. “You can blame it on parents.”