Sexting: spare the rod, teach the child

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Published Oct 9, 2014

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Angie Motshekga says pupils found sexting should not be punished or expelled, they must be taught to protect themselves.

Pretoria - Teachers and school governing bodies must take decisive action to protect adolescents from the negative impact of social media and other modern forms of communication.

To simply punish those found guilty of “sexting” – sending of a photograph of oneself naked or semi-naked or taking explicit images of an adult or teacher using electronic means – is not a solution.

In March the department held a summit on school discipline to discuss issues that affect learning and teaching.

We established a task team that is doing research on school discipline.

Our young people face real threats in an ever-changing world. Parents and schools educate children about the dangers of drugs, alcohol and sex.

The time has come to do the same concerning the dangers of sexting.

Photographs of 20 Pretoria schoolboys went viral after being posted on a fake Twitter account.

Cyber forensic specialists revealed that they had dealt with a case in which more than 200 Joburg Grade 11 pupils were sending or receiving images of themselves and classmates naked.

The world as we knew it has changed, exposing adolescents to reality television, Facebook, Twitter, MXit, SMS and Instant Messaging, resulting in instances of undesirable communication between adolescents.

 

A study by Unicef South Africa found “substantial” evidence that most young people were aware of the risks they faced online, making them develop protective measures of their own.

However, a large percentage are not au fait with the damaging impact sexting can have on their lives.

The damage done to these adolescents is inconceivable.

Research has shown that while pictures are often initially posted with the consent of the subject, once they go viral, the adolescents are exposed to millions of viewers, leaving them immensely distressed, embarrassed, humiliated and deeply ashamed, even to the point of committing suicide.

Adolescents experiment and explore, albeit in a different fashion from a generation ago before social media.

As parents and school governing bodies we need to find a way to educate them about the constitution, social media, their own and others’ right to privacy, the harm that can befall them and their counterparts.

As stated in the Films and Publications Act and the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act it is illegal to produce and share “any image, however created, or any description or representation of a person, real or simulated, who is depicted, made to appear, look like, represented or described or presented as being under the age of 18 years of an explicit or sexual nature, whether such image or description or presentation is intended to stimulate erotic or aesthetic feelings or not”.

Without this information and in the absence of any legislation dealing with sexting between adolescents, they are easy prey to the dangers of modern life.

Pupils found guilty of sexting should not be punished or expelled from schools based on their behavioural changes and patterns involving the new means of communication they are exposed to. This will destroy their future. Most are oblivious to the constitution, or about their own and others’ rights.

Studies done by the Centre for Justice and Crime Prevention and the Youth Research Unit of the Bureau of Market Research at Unisa revealed that:

* 46.8 percent of young people between ages 12 and 24 had experienced some form of cyberbullying.

* 69.7 percent of respondents who admitted to have bullied others had themselves been bullied.

* 21.46 percent of high school pupils had been approached with “unwanted talk about sex”.

* 17.79 percent had received e-mails or instant messages with adverts or links to X-rated websites.

* 16.95 percent had opened messages or links with pictures of naked people or people having sex.

* 16.60 percent had been asked for sexual information about themselves.

* 14.27 percent were worried or felt threatened by online harassment.

* 9.90 percent said they had been asked to “do something sexual”.

* Male adolescents were more likely to engage in unsafe online activities.

These statistics make it clear that adolescents must be taught to protect themselves, to say NO to sharing, copying or downloading sexually explicit images and sharing pictures of themselves, no matter who asks them.

Without guidance they remain unable to visualise the results of their actions.

* Angie Motshekga is Minister of Basic Education.

** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Newspapers.

Pretoria News

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