I woke up this morning thinking about nudity and pornography. Don’t worry I’m no pervert. This train of thoughts was triggered by a trend I’ve observed that’s gaining grounds at an alarming rate. The problem is that it’s getting so common that it’s almost seeming normal.
So let me back up a bit. About 3 weeks ago, someone sent me a video of 2 children (they couldn’t have been more than 5 years old), having sex somewhere in the bushes. Her reason for sending this clip to me was “I know this is the work you do, so please address it.” While I have no doubt that her intentions were very noble, I thought, could she have gotten me to address the issue without sending the clip? Describe the content and leave it at that? I know the popular saying “a picture is worth a thousand words” but is that really true in all cases? Beyond the fact that the content was very disturbing, I couldn’t help wondering whether by forwarding images/videos of this nature containing nudity, sexually explicit acts or as a matter of fact, any form of inappropriate content, we are not unwittingly helping to spread unsavory content. It’s worrisome the number of such images that are circulated on different online media on a daily basis!
In our bid to express “sincere” concerns, a lot of subliminal messages are being passed across on social media and online. It’s actually crossed my mind that perhaps this may have been the original intention of the creator of such content – “put it out there and I have many “unpaid” agents who would help broadcast it”. Oh and please don’t get me wrong, there are times I have found myself playing the role of an “unpaid agent” but I think it’s time we became more mindful of what we share and broadcast online. Is it possible to express concern without sharing disturbing footage? Where does one really draw the line between appropriate and inappropriate content? As with a lot of things these days, the distinction appears to be getting very blurred. Someone (male and female) takes a “selfie” that highlights certain body parts that are generally considered “private” with the caption “eye candy.” Seemingly innocent-right? But who’s to say what “feelings” such images stimulate in the different recipients. After all Kim K and Amber Rose could claim they were simply sharing their beauty in its raw form for the world to appreciate.
The point of this tirade is to say that as adults we need to think critically before we post, share or broadcast content online. Telling a child to refrain from porn or inappropriate content but unwittingly helping to spread such material or storing same on our devices, doesn’t help our parenting game. Imagine for a second that your 6-year-old child picks up you mobile phone and mistakenly clicks on a video and the next thing he /she sees is the two children about the same age as him/her engaged in a sexual act. What would your reaction be? (a)What are you doing watching that kind of video? (b) Go into a long embarrassed explanation of what the video was doing on your phone in the first place. You really don’t have to answer that question.
Please let’s err on the side of caution. In the very likely event that you get an inappropriate message, If you feel you must watch or read it for whatever reason, that’s really your choice but please for the sake of our children, delete immediately and avoid spreading the content any further, except where it would add value to the concern being expressed, in which case send to only the people you know can actually do something about the matter.
I’m sure we’re all familiar with the saying “you cannot give what you don’t have”. Let me add my slant “When we attempt to give what we don’t have, we come across as either foolish or hypocritical”. As we master this habit of critical thinking in a digital world, we are in a better position to help our children do the same.
Credits:
ParentInvestment 
Good advice to keep our phones away from the internet-savvy young children. Better advice is to delete all offensive materials that we receive from WhatsApp groups. Just as it is difficult to explain the possession of porn to our children it is also difficult to explain its possession to the international police if one’s phone were to be asked for by an immigration officer at a foreign airport. The same goes for gory images of severed body parts recovered from cultists that are sometimes sent around.
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You are very right my sister. By circulating such images you do not have any control of who now sees them (could be the same ones you eagerly want to protect). And if you think like I do, most of what social media brings to us is not true, they are put together, photoshop. So we should be very wary of what is circulated on most online media. Truly, it is very worrisome.
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Charity , yet again you have addressed an important taboo issue wisely and with sensible information and critical due reflection .
Just to let you know there are professionals that actually wake up thinking of these horrible images .
I note your points .
There are some peodophiles online who would love these images being shared and distributed whilst most people are disgusted and sharing concerns as you stated . You are right we must be mindful .
I have also found myself an “unpaid agent” and I should know better 😩😩
I remember I once forwarded a particular video to a colleague and friend and she reminded me to never forward as I can be prosecuted .
She told me that I needed to send a message back to the person that sent it to me stating they should not send me further messages like this now and in the future and immediately delete the picture . ( this needs to be in writting )
In some countries the sending of that video is a crime that would be investigated and is there is a special department that deals with such .
However the concerns still remain of the poor underage children suffering from Child Sexual Exploitation – an adult / older young person must have videoed them !
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Thanks Joy. You are right. We must find more effective ways to deal with the issue of child sexual exploitation. We must continue to preach being humane in a digital world. #HumaneInADigitalWorld.
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