Children And The Internet: Dangers, Responsibilities of Online Posting Must Be Taught Well

Editorial

14:59 JST, December 9, 2024

Slandering others using the internet is becoming increasingly serious, even among children. People must be repeatedly told that posting messages in a casual manner can have serious consequences.

The Metropolitan Police Department has sent papers pertaining to a 14-year-old third-year junior high school student to the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office on suspicion of sending threatening emails to Takuya Matsunaga, whose wife and daughter died in a car crash in Tokyo’s Ikebukuro district.

The student is suspected of sending emails — saying, “If it is painful for you, I can kill instead” among other things — from a personal computer at her home to a Kanto association of bereaved families of traffic offense victims known as “Ai no Kai.” Matsunaga serves as deputy representative director of the group.

The girl is said to have admitted to the charge, saying that she had “worries and wanted to consult the police.”

Matsunaga, whose beloved wife and daughter were killed in an instant, has been advocating for the prevention of traffic accidents, saying, “I don’t want their deaths to be in vain.” It is impossible to hide our astonishment that the person who hurled these words, which must have been like a knife to his heart, was a 14-year-old girl.

In March this year, papers pertaining to a third-year junior high school boy in Hyogo Prefecture were sent to prosecutors on suspicion of sending 9,000 emails to a Tokyo junior high school and other entities, threatening to kill a specific lawyer. The student is said to have told investigators that sending emails helps him to relieve stress.

Having worries or stress does not mean that one can hurt others to escape the pain. Words that one cannot say to someone in person should not be used online either.

According to a government survey of elementary, junior high and high schools across the country, the number of online bullying cases last fiscal year exceeded 24,000. With the spread of smartphones and social media among children, it is not uncommon for bullying to become more insidious without adults noticing.

Social networking services make it easy to exchange messages but, depending on how they are used, they can also be a tool for hurting others. In particular, children, who have limited social experience, may not fully understand the dangers.

There are also abusive expressions used by adults to insult others. It may be possible that children are imitating such posts.

In Australia, a bill has been passed in Parliament to ban the use of social media by people under the age of 16. It is said that the purpose of the new law is to prevent bullying and protect children.

In Japan, opportunities to teach children at both home and school how to use the internet appropriately should be increased. It is essential to foster a basic sense of morality that people should not do things they wouldn’t want done to them.

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Dec. 8, 2024)