A Facebook page called “cutest teens 2013” -- where users posted pictures of themselves to garner Facebook “likes” -- was taken down after CTV News brought the page to the company’s attention.
The page was a contest to see which “selfie” received the most likes before the end of the year. More than 17,000 teens participated.
And while some comments were positive, others were cruel.
“I feel bad for your parents knowing they have to look at you and be reminded you’re a product of them,” one person wrote.
Kim Chisholm, director of development at Kids Internet Safety Alliance (KINSA) and mother of a teen, believes many of the pictures posted to the page were too provocative.
She says Facebook is one of the safest social media sites, but believes that teens are never safe from cyberbullying.
“They are opening up themselves to ‘you’re disgusting, you’re ugly, you weigh too much.’”
And once pictures are online, they’re there forever, said Paul Gillespie, president of KINSA. But Gillespie believes that online activity opens teens up to more than just cyberbullying.
“I think parents have forgotten that their kids are playing in the same area, the same highway,” he said. “The fast lane’s the predators, the slow lane’s the kids, they’re on the same highway and they intersect a lot.”
“Cutest teens 2013” was taken down within 30 minutes after Facebook was made aware of the page.
There are many similar “cutest teens” pages still online, but Facebook said they will be looking into them.
With a report from CTV’s Dana Levenson
