A 2020 publication authored by Kowalski and coauthors reported that adolescents often lack empathy and awareness of the harm caused by their online actions.
NOT BSTOTAL BS
MOSTLY BS — Verdict: Mostly False
Verified by Lenz ·
The Short Version
The cited 2020 Kowalski publication did not report that adolescents in general often lack empathy or awareness of online harm. It examined empathy and related traits in cyberaggressors/cybervictims, with the strongest signal applying to youth involved in cyberaggression. The claim therefore misstates the paper’s scope and overgeneralizes a subgroup finding into a broad statement about adolescents.
Caveats
The wording wrongly generalizes from adolescents involved in cyberaggression to adolescents overall.
Support for the broader claim relies on mismatched or weak evidence, including a 2021 publication and non-citable background text rather than the specified 2020 paper.
The phrase “often lack empathy and awareness” is stronger and less precise than what the 2020 study supports.