It's the morning after Hallowe'en in Owen Sound, and everyone is talking about the children who helped themselves to maybe more than the usual amount of candy in the self serve bowls that some residents had put out.
This horror story is one that has been shared over 180 times on a Facebook profile. The comments discuss trying to hunt down the girls so that some amount of justice can be dished out. Hopefully an appropriate amount of justice instead of the entire bowl. Although these girls were not dressed up as witches, it seems that the witch hunt for them is already underway.
This doxing or cyber bullying of two young minors (who obviously have a difficult time restraining themselves from taking a modest amount of candy from a bowl) can have damaging, even dangerous, effects. The page owner has posted this video of the two trick or treaters which includes some manipulation of the video to zoom into their faces. She does this with the intention of outing the girls' behaviour to their parents. If she had blurred their faces, it would have had the same effect, as any parent would probably know what costume their kids wore that night.
Now the identity of the child is out there.
One of the comments that was written under the video reads as "I bet someone knows who they are". I was able to reach that commenter to ask her what she meant by her comment. She responded with "Well I know on my street...I know most people. These days everybody's got these ring doorbells that take videos of everybody right? I'm sure those two little kids they are probably 12 or 10; someone's gonna know them". When I explained the risks we take when posting the video of children on the internet, she said "everybody has a doorbell, you gotta be careful these days, everyone seems to be videoing everybody. Kids are kids right? I mean, they didn't mean any harm by it, they just wanted a lot of candy". I was very happy to see that she felt this way when I shared some thoughts of the possible impacts of posting the video of these two children for 12,000 (so far) strangers to watch.
Some people may argue that the lesson of being publicly shamed for a mistake you have made is appropriate. The problem is when videos of children get published, the impact to their psychological and emotional well-being is more than the cost of a box or two of assorted chocolates. The poster might not realize it but posting this video, could, in a hypothetical situation, compromise the privacy of a mother and her child trying to escape an abusive, potentially violent situation. This is just one reason why respecting the privacy of childen is important.
Some of you reading this might say, if you do a crime then you have to face the music and be prepared for some sort of consequence. This was a bowl of candy, sitting on porch, with absolutely no instructions on how much to take. Many of these children haven't had a regular Hallowe'en for two years and there is pent up excitement to get as much candy as you possibly can to make up for the years that were lost.
If a child were to actually commit a crime, under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, section 110, the idenity of a young offender cannot be published. So even if that bowl of candy had a note that said "This candy is not for anyone to take. Please leave this candy in the bowl. You are on camera. Any removal of candy will result in charges of theft." the Facebook poster would be in breach of the Act.
We live in an age where our door bells, sidewalks, malls, schools, and dashboards all come equipped with cameras. We should all be more aware of what we might be caught doing on camera, that the nighbours might choose to share online.
People in glass houses shouldn't throw bricks. And people who leave bowls of candy out for children, shouldn't be too shocked when they take the whole bowl. Because they are children, and don't have the same moral compass as an adult.
Also, if you feel like you will go to lengths to hunt down the children that took the 13 dollars worth of candy out of your bowl you left out on your porch across the street from two elementary schools, you should probably leave your porch light out. Just don't participate in trick or treat, if you can't deal with the tricks, and if you get upset if someone takes all the treats. Leave it to the rest of the neighbours who actually enjoy handing out the candy to kids, because we love the kids of our community and want to see them grow and thrive without having to make them feel mortified, humilated and vulnerable. That's what I want to do for the children of my community, is hand out candy, not pyschological trauma.
Two attempts were made to contact the Facebook poster on a phone number associated with her business, but I just received voicemail.
- An adult neighbour who doesn't want to receive the same treatment
Editor's note: The police have visited the poster of the video, and it has been taken down, but not before a local radio announcer drew attention to it and it was viewed over 12,000 times. Please think of the consequnces of this type of use of social media.
