By Natasha Prince
Explicit pornographic footage of teenagers distributed on cellphones has sparked an outcry from government and NGOs.
The craze has spread to a number of city schools where the video clips are reportedly widely available and has now forced education authorities, police and child rights organisations to intervene.
Childline's national director Joan van Niekerk said they were "concerned about the situation".
She said a number of schools had asked them to intervene because, due to the nature of the problem, teachers often did not want to deal with it.
"Children are curious about sex and indulge in their curiosity. But what these children need to understand is that they are creating child pornography and they are distributing child pornography," said Van Niekerk.
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She said many children were not aware that they could be charged in a court of law for their actions.
"There needs to be a nationwide push to educate and provide information to make them realise that when they indulge it is illegal and measures can be implemented which would lead to prosecution."
She said the children were not considering the consequences of their actions and that they needed to be educated on issues of sex and in responsible behaviour.
She said children should get family support and that children needed to be called upon to reconsider decisions that could harm themselves and those they were filming.
Police spokesperson Captain Elliot Sinyangana confirmed that police have opened an inquiry file.
"At this stage the investigation is ongoing but no criminal case is registered at the moment," said Sinyangana.
Gert Witbooi of the Western Cape education department said the schools directorate, in association with the district offices, was working to identify the affected schools.
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