Today I was SO shocked to read about the stuff that young boys including class mates(never mind the old pervs) post on social media to try and induce young girls to engage in sexual behaviour online. They are calling their classmates whores, sluts and worse. I could hardly bear to read the things that they are writing. I cant bring myself to write any of it here.
One young girl – she was 13 years old, exposed to this onslaught, developed anorexia.
Remembering back to when I was growing up, it was hard enough being 13 and trying to find my place in this new adult world without having to face attacks on my reputation and my dignity. Being 13, 14, 16, 17…… was just about as much as I could handle.
My mother used to say that sticks and stones can’t hurt you, she was right, they may not hurt, they can kill.
We need our dignity and our sense of just enough pride and self respect as the ship that sails us through the turbulent seas of life. Why steal this precious thing – a sense of a lovely self – from a growing young person who thinks she knows it all but knows nothing at all.
We have to do something to protect our children. We have to name and shame the persecutors who think it’s cool to behave like this. We must tell ourselves that we CAN live without Facebook, Instagram and the like. I did. Can’t we? If we can’t what hope for our children.