Media Literacy for Preventing Online Sexual Threats Among Lower Secondary School Students in Nonthaburi Province

Abstract

In the digital era, Thai children and adolescents spend considerable time on online media while facing a significant increase in online sexual threats. Media literacy has become an essential skill for threat prevention. This study aimed to: (1) examine demographic characteristics, online media usage behaviors, media literacy levels, and online sexual threat prevention behaviors; (2) compare demographic characteristics with online sexual threat prevention behavior levels; (3) compare online media usage behaviors with online sexual threat prevention behavior levels; and (4) investigate the relationship between media literacy levels and online sexual threat prevention behaviors among lower secondary school students in Nonthaburi Province. The study involved 400 students in grades 7-9 from eight schools across six districts of Nonthaburi Province. Data were collected using an online questionnaire. Sample size was determined using Taro Yamane's formula with a sampling error of 0.05. Data analysis employed frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation calculations. A Likert rating scale was used for measurement.

            The findings revealed that most students were female (55.5%), in grade 9 (36.8%), with family income of 15,001-20,000 baht (38.0%), using smartphones (95.3%). The most popular social media platforms were TikTok (31.4%) and Instagram (28.3%), used 6-7 days per week (64.3%) for more than 4 hours per session (47.5%), primarily for entertainment (64.3%). Students demonstrated a high level of online sexual threat prevention (M = 4.268, SD = 0.820). The type of online media used (Instagram, TikTok, Line), frequency of use per week, and duration per session significantly influenced the online sexual threat prevention behaviors of lower secondary school students in Nonthaburi Province (p < .05). Both media literacy level and online sexual threat prevention level were high. The skill of using media beneficially showed the strongest positive correlation with threat prevention (r = 0.743) at a significance level of 0.01.

            The study indicates that promoting media literacy, particularly creative media use, is a crucial factor in enhancing self-protection behaviors against sexual threats. Therefore, educational institutions should integrate media literacy curricula into teaching and develop teachers as trusted advisors for students, while families should monitor and consistently communicate about online safety and collaborate with schools in continuously developing children's self-protection skills. Future research should employ additional qualitative methods and expand the scope to other areas to compare different social contexts.