It’s not often that I shout at a newspaper but this article in yesterday’s Observer irritated me. Apparently there are calls for mobile phone signals to be jammed in schools in order to prevent “happy slapping” (or “assault” to you and me).
Two reasons why this is a dumb idea immediately spring to mind:
- Kids can still use the video recording feature of their phone even if there is no signal
- This does nothing to prevent incidents outside school (which is most of them, I imagine)
What annoyed me, though, was the inclusion in an otherwise sensible and balanced article of this paragraph:
Since the first attacks were reported about a year ago, their number – and severity – has dramatically escalated. Last week, an 11-year-old north London girl was raped after school by a gang of boys in a home near the school. The footage of the attack was then sent to other pupils by mobile phone.
That has nothing to do with the story being covered and isn’t part of a new craz – it’s a vile sexual assault of the most traditional sort, albeit with an unpleasant, modern twist.
Ironically, the very fact that the perpertrators videoed their attack and sent it to friends will probably aid the police in identifying and prosecuting the perpertrators.
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