Tick the box for Yes or No.
The handwritten note we would have our friends pass on to those we were sussing out as potential ‘boyfriends and/or girlfriends’ when we were at school. A paper note was easily disposed of, ripped up and thrown away as if it had never been written should it be returned to you with the ‘N’ circled, saving you from the embarrassment you hoped to avoid over the rejection.
Our communication, if not verbal, consisted of pen and paper, and our technology was the telephone, which was either located in the kitchen or loungeroom where everyone heard your conversation (no secret chats in our house).
To take a photo of ourselves would have taken an enormous amount of skill and effort. By the time we bought a film, clipped the flashes on top of the camera, and balanced the Kodak on a pile of encyclopedias with the timer button on (if it was a fancy camera that had a timer option), the moment would be gone. Nobody had even heard of the term ‘selfie’, and we certainly had no interest in partaking in a self-portrait, that is for sure.
Fast forward to 2024 and my goodness, how things have changed… for the absolute worst.
With the introduction of smart phones and other handheld devices, social media and a whole lot of angry, jealous, nasty, cruel and self-indulgent sick human beings, we are now faced with a new type of bullying called ‘sexploitation’.
For those who are not aware, there was a recent report in the media that a 15-year-old boy had been targeted by online scammers claiming to be a like-minded pretty girl who had apparently been quite taken by his posts on a social media platform. The ‘pretty girl’ told him he looked as though he was in great shape, and began commenting on posts from his friends, and so ensued some initially harmless flirting.
‘She’ sent him a suggestive photo of herself, convinced him to reciprocate, before asking ‘Do You Like Me.’ Within seconds, he received a message ordering him to ‘pay $500 into this account or I will send your picture (of his genitals) to all of your friends.’ Panicked, he did as he was asked, and once again he received a message asking for another $500 or ‘she’ would alert his parents that he was sending pornographic photos, going on to say his parents would hate him and never forgive him.
He immediately informed his father as to what he had done and was reassured that owning up to what he had participated in was the right approach. Then the phone rang, and his father answered. The voice at the other end of the phone began to threaten him that the money must be paid or the consequences of the photo being shown to the boy’s friends would be actioned.
The father firmly told the caller that the police had been informed; but it was too late, and the photo was leaked to all the boy’s friends on his social media account. As the boy’s biggest supporter, his father spoke to his football club and school, and the matter was quickly addressed. It seemed as though all was forgotten, and he thought that given the fact his son had stopped talking about the incident and was attending school, the matter had been dealt with.
However, one morning when he went into his room to get his son up for school, he found the boy had taken his own life. Days later when he found the courage to return to the room after his son’s funeral, a note was discovered, written by his son. In it, he expressed how he felt he had let his parents down with what he had done and that the humiliation and hurt he had caused had become too much to bear.
His life cut short, through the actions of one individual who thought nothing of making another human being feel so low, so insignificant, and unable to repair the damage they were made to feel they had caused, for money.
But here is where it gets worse. The scammer did not only target one person. They went on to target a number of people who were just scrolling through their social media accounts, watching funny videos, posting messages to their friends and thinking nothing of it. The problem is that these pathetic excuses for people, these oxygen thieves, parasites, whatever you want to call them – they have not been caught. They are 10 steps ahead of law enforcement and therefore, as dangerous as the worst criminals you can imagine, and they are targeting anyone who has a smart phone and who engages with others through digital devices.
I recently heard about some parents who offered their kids $5,000 to stay off their devices for 12 months. What a shame it has come to a stage where people feel they need to take such measures.
Aren’t we the parent? Then why are we giving in to our kids who want to be like their friends because “he has/she has one and I feel left out.” A device that was initially supposed to be used as a form of communication and safety has become something that has been taken advantage of and turned into (in many cases) the source of mental health problems in kids and teenagers as they constantly try to attain the unattainable.
If you have concerns about your child’s usage of digital devices, or their mental health, please contact a professional.
- headspace.org.au
- kidshelpline.com.au
- addictioncenter.com
- techsafety.org.au
This article appeared in The Koondrook and Barham Bridge Newspaper, 27 June 2024.