Internet Mistakes. Take The Blame.

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Boys share your bare bones photos/videos with the football team. Are girls that stupid?

Home should be a sanctuary, where we run to when the rain changes its mind and becomes a raging snowstorm. Unfortunately we bring the turbulence inside, through our phones. We lead secret lives online. They could be fun, educational or suicidal. Whatever it is, we must take full responsibility for wrong choices. No. Parents are not to blame. The government is also not to blame. Courts are not to blame. We are to blame. Example.

When she was 15, Shamima Begum went to Syria in 2015, joined ISIS and married an ISIS operative. The U.K. government deleted her citizenship in 2019. She appealed that decision and according to today’s CNN report, this was what the Court of Appeal said. “It could be argued the decision in Ms. Begum’s case was harsh. It could also be argued that Ms. Begum is the author of her own misfortune. But it is not for this court to agree or disagree with either point of view.”

She was 15 when she went to Syria with her friends. Her parents were in the dark like most parents. It’s not only teenagers that have secret online lives. Everyone with a phone probably does. We make a conscious decision because we are mentally sound, but we seldom take the blame when things go wrong. If I’m not to blame, who is? The government is usually the scape goat.

There is an ad on the bus about sending photos of yourself in your birthday suit, to strangers that purport to love you.  It is a provincial government ad warning kids about the consequences. Whether you are 16 or 36, common sense says you shouldn’t do it. Being ‘in love’ kicks common sense out of the door. The government should not be posting such ads. It’s parents’ job. They should sit down with their twins, Timmini and Tammini and tell them it would be their fault if the no-clothes photos ruin their future. They should not blame mom and dad.

1. Photos/videos will re-surface a day before their wedding.

2. Photos/videos will re-surface when they are running for school president.

3. Photos/videos will re-surface when they are running for mayor.

4. Photos/videos will re-surface when they are running for judgeship.

5. Photos/videos will re-surface when they are running for U.S. President or Canadian Prime Minister.

They must take the full blame for it, so do all of us, with our secret meandering and misbehaving on the internet.

Nonqaba waka Msimang

Executive Blogger

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