Mahurangi Matters_Issue 372_18 September 2019

Page 1

September 18, 2019

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Participants preparing for a mobility gymkhana at Summerset Village next month have been warned that random drug testing before the race is on the cards. Practising their skills, from left, are Sonia Edmonds, Judy McGregor, Carol Hill-Smith and Laurie Barker. See story page 11.

Social media fears stalk college classrooms Mahurangi College has stepped up efforts to educate students about the dangers of social media after girls as young as 11 were propositioned and asked to post nude photographs of themselves online. The communications came to light after students reported concerns about the behaviour of one online predator in particular. When the school investigated, it found that some Year 7 and Year 8

girls had more than 1000 followers on their Instagram accounts. In a letter to parents, assistant principal Christina Merrick said it was clear that the girls could not know all these people and it left them vulnerable. “When students accept friend invitations from people they do not know, this is when they are stepping into dangerous territory,” she wrote. She said it was interesting to note

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that many girls spoken to under the age of 13 had Instagram accounts, even though the networking service recommended users were aged 13 or above. Warkworth Police acting station sergeant Jon Williams said the police were investigating one online predator in connection with the Instagram incidents involving Mahurangi College students, and the matter had been referred to the North Shore

Child Abuse Team. Snr Constable Williams said whether it was an offence to ask a child for a nude photograph of themselves was something of a grey area, though a predator could risk prosecution for “online grooming” of a child. He said if a predator received a nude photograph of a child under 16 then it would clearly be an offence, as they would then be in possession of an continued page 2

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