There's a new online campaign encouraging good decision-making amongst youth before they text, post online or send private messages through apps. Te Rau Matatini's #TechTikanga was launched yesterday and has had more than 80,000 views since.
Before clicking 'send' on that sexy selfie, stop and think, would you send this to your Nan?
#TechTikanga spokesperson Johannah Katene-Burge, "It does happen and it is realistic so the best thing to do is think about it and not send them and save yourself that embarrassment."
#TechTikanga aims at youth to educate them about safety online and owning their online image.
"So youth these days tend to add random people, talk to random girls or guys and what usually tends to happen is conversations develop, and they get to the point of 'hey I want a call, hey I want to see you I want to see what you're like, which eventually leads on to hey Iw ant to see what your body looks like."
Last year, around 70% of women identified online harassment as a problem and nearly 40% choose to ignore it. While one in 10 women has experienced graphic sexual harassment, figures rise to 18% for women under 30 years.
Te Pou Ahorangi CEO Marama Parore says, “What you see in the Aroha Tama video is how easy it is to get trapped and not even know that you're getting trapped. We've seen an increasing link between cyber bullying and suicide or suicidal ideation, that's thinking about suicide. That's really dangerous for our rangatahi and we need to make sure that we're providing them with very good tools and resources to protect them online.”
"Once a photo is leaked it'll go throughout the whole college and by the next day you will be the topic of the whole college, so sending nudes is an absolute no-no," says Katene-Burge.
If you need information visit the Netsafe website or ask yourself if your Nan would approve of your selfie?