Posting online could affect teens’ future

by Sorana Mitchell

There is a grave concern for the possible limited employment opportunities in the future for teens who have become caught up in making pornographic images and sending them online.

“There is no gravity on the Internet,” said Jervis Dabreo, a member of the National Cyber Security Incidence Response Team (CSIRT). Dabreo explained, “You may post it now as a teenager and 10, 15, 20 years from now, based on what you want to do, it will come back to haunt you.”

Psychotherapist Shawnna Cuffie noted that “pornography is not great for the children’s mind, growth process, and what pornography does is that it makes you feel like you’re part of something that’s happening and then you’re not.”

CSIRT revealed that there is an appetite for pornography in the country. Dabreo noted that “we have seen several instances where people on social media would say, hey, send me the video. Not understanding that if the video contains child pornography, meaning a child is involved in sexual activity in that video, whether it’s two children or a child and an adult, understand that you asking for it, is covered under Section 12 of the Electronic Crimes Act.”

Dabreo cited the importance of respecting people’s privacy, also found in the Electronic Crimes Act (2013). He pointed out that it is an invasion of privacy: “It is illegal to be installing cameras in certain spaces. You should not have a camera in a bathroom, for example.”

Cuffie noted that several schools are educating students about the Act, what it entails, and the penalty for transgressions.

Assistant pastor at the Evangelistic Centre, Member Church of the Pentecostal Assemblies of the West Indies, Pastor Isiah St Rose, expressed concern about this latest trend. He said, “Because we are creatures of habit, minors will take that as a pattern to follow.” However, he added, “I hope that there are some youngsters who would use it as motivation, use it as inspiration to provide a different pattern to establish a new culture.”

12-year-old Melody is a Form 1 student at Grenada Seventh Day Adventist Comprehensive School, Mt Rose, St Patrick. The pre-teen said that although she is online, she does not make videos and post on popular video-sharing apps because of a conversation she had with her mother about cyber security. She said her mother told her, “I should be careful about what I post because anything you post on the internet, it stays there, even if you delete it, it would always be there because people can screenshot and screen record. And, whatever you post, it can come back later in life. So, you have to be careful.”

Her single mother, Mitsy Garrett, said conversation is key, “I believe as parents we should be able to speak to our children so they know what they can post and what they cannot post… it is a form of recreation, yes, but we have to also limit what time they spend on it… they could make videos. I’m not saying they can’t, but there must be a cut-off point. As parents, we should be able to control that, and they, too, should have that kind of self-control. Basically, we have to work together.”

Dabreo added, “We need our young people to understand that they are not defined by the number of shares or likes they get on Instagram. So, there is no reason to be removing their clothes. Love is not measured in terms of sexual intercourse.”

Cuffie said that young people should be held accountable. She shared steps that should be taken. “Firstly, admitting to the wrong that was committed. Secondly, we have to put them on a plan for them to set goals. You see if a teen has goals set then, they are guided by a script and not just going off doing any old crazy thing. Thirdly, they must agree to work with somebody in the area of psychotherapy in the area of counselling — could be a social worker, could be a spiritual leader — to really repair the damage that is being done to their psyche, to their soul, and to their whole experience. Because when a child goes through this in a small society like Grenada, you’re labelled. You’re marked for life.”

Dabreo, however, appealed to people: “Do not victimise the victim.”