Pretoria West Child Protection hotline warns against dangers of minors using social media
"The world that opens to these children if parents are not actively involved and communicating with their children on the dangers of these social media apps, is extremely dangerous."
Pretoria West Child Protection hotline has warned against the dangerous trend of minors (children younger than 18) sending naked pictures of themselves to their girlfriends, boyfriends and “people” they meet on social media.
According to Danie van Loggerenberg of the hotline, it is very concerning, dangerous and has in other areas led to serious harm.
“We need to remind parents that they need to communicate, educate and inform their children that if they take part in such activities, that they are not only in possession of child pornography, but they are also distributing child pornography, which is a crime,” he said.
ALSO READ: Mamelodi man reported missing
“In the instances where strangers send the naked picture request, we urge parents to contact us immediately. Some of these photos end up on social media and pornographic websites.
“It is also important to not delete these conversations. Take screenshots of the conversations and block the perpetrator,” he added.
Van Loggerenberg said that the hotline has seen an increase every school holiday in social media engagements where children have conversations with strangers and before long exchange personal information and then intimate photographs.
“We want to urge parents to not allow their children/teenagers to have access to all the unnecessary social media applications.
“The world that opens to these children if parents are not actively involved. Communicating with their children on the dangers of social media is extremely dangerous,” he warned.
“These strangers pretend to be teenagers with photos they take from the internet. Their intentions are never good. In many instances, the profiles are managed by much older men.
“We had several reports of Instagram conversations that moved to WhatsApp and quickly turned to the sending of naked photos. The stranger then uses the photos received to try and extort money from the victim,” he said.
In one instance the child stole his mother’s credit card from her purse to try and pay off the perpetrator by providing credit card details.
“If parents educate and communicate with their children, not only do these events not happen, they are also quick to call for help.
“Please do not allow your children unrestricted access to the internet or social media apps. We realise a lot of school work gets done via the internet.
“As a parent, you however need to have a look at your children’s Google search history, their YouTube history, their TikTok activity and the conversations taking place on WhatsApp and Facebook.
“Parents are also urged to look at the games their children play, as there is an increase in games that look age-appropriate, but include the undressing of characters, etc.
“Conversations with strangers in computer, Playstation and Xbox games are also dangerous,” Van Loggerenberg concluded.
Do you have more information about the story?
Please send us an email to editorial@rekord.co.za or phone us on 083 625 4114.
For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord’s websites: Rekord East
For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram
