In July and August 2009, there was a lot of media attention surrounding the disappearance and re-appearance of a girl associated with MXit. The Star, in “Girls disappearance highlights the hazards of MXit” (04/08/09, p.2) by Gill Gifford, instead of focusing on the circumstances, used the occasion to highlight some of the hazards posed by cell phone use and social networking for teenagers. It also provided advice to parents on minimising risks.

The article accessed an expert, Izabella Little, from Lifetalk, an organisation promoting healthy relationships between parents and teenagers. In the article, she highlighted some of the dangers of cell phone use and MXit for teenagers. These included, for example, exposure to the company of older people – and thereby drugs and sex – and concentration problems, as children spend time on the phone when they should be studying or sleeping.

As well as highlighting the hazards, the article included Little’s advice for parents on how to minimise the risks.  For example, parents were advised to establish a communicative relationship with their children, set down rules to guide their children on the use of Mxit and exercise their rights to know what happens on their phones

Little stated in the article that the organisation was launching an awareness campaign to alert parents that they were dealing with inadequate information (in relation to MXit) and needed to know the realities.

Articles like this help to raise awareness among parents about some of the dangers their children are exposed to and supports them in their responsibilities to protect children from harm.

NB. The reporter was given the opportunity to respond, but did not do so.