Ease up on obsession with capturing everything on the phone

EDUCATION Minister Priya Manickchand has called on persons, especially young people and school children, to refrain from abusing their gadgets, especially cell phones, which have the potential to cause them long-term embarrassment.

The Minister was at the time responding to the videos which went viral on social media over the weekend with four children from a city secondary school who were engaging in sex acts which were recorded while they were still in school uniform.
According to the Minister, with the advent of social media and the click of a button to send data to the entire world, persons need to be more cognisant of what they do, where they do it and if recording every episode of their lives is necessary.
She said that the decision which is usually made to upload photographs and videos of almost every single move does have the potential to damage both personality and image for the rest of their lives even as she cautioned that the cell phone and other mobile devices ought not to be utilised in every activity.
“These things can really stay with you for the rest of your lives, whatever the activities are, ease up on the use of the phone and the obsession of capturing everything on the phone and sending it across the world,” Minister Manickchand cautioned.

COUNSELLING
On Sunday, the Education Minister told this newspaper that the incident involving the four children is being investigated and the ministry will be seeking counselling for the children involved. She said the sharing and reposting of the video was very disturbing as was the actions of the children.
This newspaper was told that the incident took place away from the school premises and was done at the home of one of the female students. The matter which was first brought to the attention of the Ministry on Thursday last is now under active investigation.
Over the weekend the video was circulated on the social media and went viral with several hundred likes and comments.

POSITIVELY IDENTIFIED
In the video one of the female students was sitting on a male student and appeared to be engaging in penetrative sex while the other student was seen on the video performing oral sex on another male student. All four children were positively identified to this newspaper by persons who are familiar with them, their school and the classes they are in.
Over the years there have been several videos of schoolchildren in their uniforms performing sexual intercourse with each other, both in Guyana and other Caribbean countries. The situation is one that the Region’s education ministries have been battling to bring under control.

(By Leroy Smith)