With South African families
being confined to their homes as part of the national
lockdown, a growing portion of the day is being spent online, whether it is for
work – in the case of parents, or chatting to friends and actively engaging with
social media platforms – in the case of children.
This, however, is also the
opportune time for sexual predators to take advantage of the increased time
that children spend on social media networks, as well as the higher volumes of
content that they tend to post.
A discomforting fact about
sexual predators is that they historically work and hang out in areas that
provide easy access to children: teachers, youth leaders and the likes are not
uncommon profiles of sexual predators. In today’s world, this concept still holds
true. It’s just that this time around, the likes of Instagram, Snapchat, gaming
chat rooms, Tik Tok – and whatever tomorrow’s next social media craze will be –
are the modern-day playground for tweens and teens and are therefore also a
preferred hangout for sexual predators.
Dramatic increase in sexual grooming
Data from the Digital Law
Company, which provides legal advice and guidance in the field of digital
media, shows that there has been a dramatic increase in the cases where young
boys or girls have been groomed into sending sexually suggestive or naked
photos or videos by someone they have met on social media, who appears to be
another teenager but who is, in actual fact, nothing but an adult (usually male)
pedophile preying on multiple young victims.
In one example, an Instagram
account claiming to be an official Miss Teen South Africa account lured
hundreds of young girls with the promise of an international modelling contract
and R500 000 up for grabs in prizes. As soon as young girls liked the account,
they were asked to send a WhatsApp to the number of an international modelling
scout for the “international model verification process”.
All too soon the
“verification process” was asking these young girls for photographs of
themselves without any clothes on. This was not Miss Teen South Africa, or any
kind of modelling contest – it was a sexual predator living in South
Johannesburg.
Keeping tweens and teens safe on social media
Sexual predators in the
digital age are slick and know exactly how to get attention from their victims.
A profile will be set up to be something that a victim would be interested in.
The predator will be sure to follow/ like accounts liked by the victim so that
it appears that they have a number of mutual friends. The problem here is that
for tweens and teens, the number of followers and likes on social media is seen
as one huge popularity contest: the more followers, the better you are.
The countrywide lockdown will
most likely see increased effort by these predators to take advantage of the
increased time that youngsters will be spending online. Parents for their part
can’t simply ban their children from social media altogether, and should rather
focus on educating their children, and raising awareness of the dangers that
are online.
Here are a few pointers on what parents should consider:
- Ensure your child has a private account.
- Have conversations with your child about:
o stranger danger and not talking to people you do not know
in real life
o being discerning about who you allow to follow you on
Instagram – explain to your children that being popular on Instagram is like
being rich in monopoly!
o blocking anyone who makes you feel even in the slightest
bit uncomfortable online
o confronting you whenever they feel upset/unconfirmable or
threatened
- Limit time spent online – there are a number of apps and tools which allow you to limit the time
your children spend online or on specific apps. Apple’s Screen Time app and Google Family Link are
two free and relatively easy to use options. - Disable location services on the app so that your child’s
location is not accessible to others
What parents must understand
is that the frontal lobe of the brain – the part responsible for impulse
control and decision-making – is not fully developed until the age of 25. Tweens
and teens do not understand the concept of permanent consequences of their
actions, and very much live for instant gratification.
Without overseeing what our
kids are doing on social media, checking in frequently and having multiple
conversations around your children’s online activity, they are bound to make
mistakes with long term serious psychological, reputational and even legal
consequences.
