Cyberbulling, “sexting” and pornography were some of the issues media expert Emma Sadleir addressed in a visit to Selborne Primary School in East London yesterday.
Sadleir, a lawyer specialising in media and author of Don’t Film Yourself Having Sex, was in the city to deliver a talk on social media safety and laws surrounding it.
Addressing Grade 6 and 7 boys, Sadleir said circulation of porn and cyberbullying were the biggest issues affecting school pupils across country.
“Bullying is worse now because of the internet,” she said. “In the old days, someone would have to say something to your face but now they don’t have to do that. They can write it and share it online and there’s nothing you can do.”
But while bullying has advanced, the laws around bullying have too.
A new law in South Africa, called the Protection of Harassment Act, now means that children can get a restraining order against a bully, without the need of parental approval.
“You guys need to know that children over the age of 10 years can actually be tried in the courts as adults. From the age of 13 years a person can also be sued as an adult,” Sadleir warned.
Touching on porn, Sadleir explained that sharing naked pictures, either of themselves or someone else, was considered distribution of child porn if the subject was under 18 years.
“These pictures end up online, they end up shared and once it’s online you can’t take it back,” she warned. “My advice is to treat anything you put online as a tattoo.”
Sadleir warned pupils against adults posing as children on social networks in order to get closer to them, adding that they needed to ensure they changed their passwords regularly and beefed up security settings on their social pages.
“Just think of it this way – if you wouldn’t invite a stranger into your house to look at your photo albums, why would you allow them to see your pictures?
“If you wouldn’t be prepared to have whatever you put online up on a billboard overlooking a busy street, with your face and the name of your school next to it, then don’t put it online.”
Sadleir also addressed Selborne College pupils and their parents.
She speaks at Clarendon Primary School today. — zisandan@dispatch.co.za
The dark perils of cyberspace
Sadleir, a lawyer specialising in media and author of Don’t Film Yourself Having Sex, was in the city to deliver a talk on social media safety and laws surrounding it.
Addressing Grade 6 and 7 boys, Sadleir said circulation of porn and cyberbullying were the biggest issues affecting school pupils across country.
“Bullying is worse now because of the internet,” she said. “In the old days, someone would have to say something to your face but now they don’t have to do that. They can write it and share it online and there’s nothing you can do.”
But while bullying has advanced, the laws around bullying have too.
A new law in South Africa, called the Protection of Harassment Act, now means that children can get a restraining order against a bully, without the need of parental approval.
“You guys need to know that children over the age of 10 years can actually be tried in the courts as adults. From the age of 13 years a person can also be sued as an adult,” Sadleir warned.
Touching on porn, Sadleir explained that sharing naked pictures, either of themselves or someone else, was considered distribution of child porn if the subject was under 18 years.
“These pictures end up online, they end up shared and once it’s online you can’t take it back,” she warned. “My advice is to treat anything you put online as a tattoo.”
Sadleir warned pupils against adults posing as children on social networks in order to get closer to them, adding that they needed to ensure they changed their passwords regularly and beefed up security settings on their social pages.
“Just think of it this way – if you wouldn’t invite a stranger into your house to look at your photo albums, why would you allow them to see your pictures?
“If you wouldn’t be prepared to have whatever you put online up on a billboard overlooking a busy street, with your face and the name of your school next to it, then don’t put it online.”
Sadleir also addressed Selborne College pupils and their parents.
She speaks at Clarendon Primary School today. — zisandan@dispatch.co.za
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