Daily Post 1318
BOIS LOCKER ROOM
What damage uncontrolled social media can do has become very evident by now infamous Bois Locker Room Case. Of the 22 members in the group only 2 are adults is a pernicious fact of this chat group. What is really in intriguing is the mental frame they belong to, the ultimate level of perversion / criminality and secondly the feeling of safety on this medium. Nobody has ever told them how to use the social media and liability it carries, even if they have a throughly vitiated frame of mind. We should thank the whistleblower. Given the facts of the case, it is very difficult to believe that this is just an one odd case.
Coming from prominent South Delhi schools, Bois locker room was created for sharing photos of girls, passing disgusting comments and even going to the extent of talking about gang rape. This group indulged in the worst level objectifying of girls. Cyber Bullying and associated evils have been talked about for quite sometime but no great effort has been made to drill it down to every single student. Technical digital hygiene and digital thinking has to start much before you hand over the smart phone to the child.
In the broken Educational ecosystem, there is nobody to take care of the child. Parents leave it to the school and schools leave it to the parents. Deviant behaviour is never looked into, which includes the time spent on the phone. Parents don’t seem to have control of the child by way of how much time he spends on the smart phone and for what purposes. They treat smartphone as yet another gadget but that is not the case. It brings with itself the whole perverse world and worst of the crimes can be committed using this medium. ISIS used social media as a source of recruitment.
What has happened is all well known and that many such groups would be existing is a safe presumption. Police will do a neat job of investigation, given the nature of the case is also a given. These accused getting punished would not be the end of story. This malaise at this young age is disturbing and also that they view this as something that they can get away with. Cyber Security Awareness Program is a must with the fear of law deeply inculcated. Parents have to teach values and how to live in the digital world. Schools have to totally transform themselves in bringing this element of value / responsibility / digital living and even fear, in their standard curriculum. A multi-pronged attack is the only answer. Time is running out.
BOIS LOCKER ROOM IS A WAKE UP FOR ALL. ONLY LIP SERVICE CAN BE DISASTROUS.