On 7 March 2007, the Daily Sun had a story with a headline “TEACHER WHIPPED MY KID!” It was accompanied by a picture of the alleged victim and her mother. The story continued on page two with another picture of the mother and the child and an insert showing the bruised thigh of the child, she is standing in her underwear for the picture.
The story had no regard for the human rights of the child. Whilst the story acknowledges that “corporal punishment is now against the law”, it fails to protect the child as she is an alleged victim of crime. This constitutes a criminal offence on the part of the newspaper, as only the courts can give permission to identify a child victim of crime. It is clearly not in the best interest of the child to be identified. Identifying the child may put her in the risk of retribution or stigmatisation as the consequences of the act alleged to be committed by the teacher.
The second story appeared on 8 March 2007, with a headline “Angry boy attacked by teacher….Boy and teacher in fist fight… Chaos- and boy is kicked out!!”. The story is about a 14 year old boy whose family claim he was beaten up by the teacher with a belt and the boy fought back. The story seems to be biased; as the versions of the teacher, the principal or any other witnesses, are absent. The story says that the boy was beaten by the teacher with a belt and this, according to the newspaper is a criminal offence. Again, in this case the Daily Sun identifies the name of the alleged victim, although he is underage. By South African law, to identify an underage victim is a criminal offence.
Although media has a role to challenge human rights abuses, including corporal punishment in schools, the manner in which these stories were written constitutes further human rights abuse. Biased reporting and human rights abuse of children can constitute criminal offences; the Daily Sun makes any right-thinking person MAD with the manner they publish these stories.
What is even more problematic, though, is an accompanying photograph on page two which shows the bruises from the beating on the girl’s thigh. She has lifted her skirt for the camera. Not only is her thigh clearly visible but the photograph also reveals the top of her underwear. This photograph is a clear violation of the child’s rights to privacy and its sexualised nature is highly problematic.
Had the Daily Sun opted to use only this image and protected her and her mother’s name and identity, and had the image not been sexualised, the issue of consent is still critical. It is not clear whether the child’s informed consent was gained to take and publish these photographs or whether she (or her mother) understood what it would mean to have this kind of photograph taken and published.
The second story appeared on 8 March 2007, with a headline “Angry boy attacked by teacher….Boy and teacher in fist fight… Chaos- and boy is kicked out!!”. The story is about a 14 year old boy whose family claim he was beaten up by the teacher with a belt and the boy fought back. The story seems to be biased; as the versions of the teacher, the principal or any other witnesses, are absent. The story says that the boy was beaten by the teacher with a belt and this, according to the newspaper is a criminal offence. Again, in this case the Daily Sun identifies the name of the alleged victim, although he is underage. By South African law, to identify an underage victim is a criminal offence.
Although media has a role to challenge human rights abuses, including corporal punishment in schools, the manner in which these stories were written constitutes further human rights abuse. Biased reporting and human rights abuse of children can constitute criminal offences; the Daily Sunmakes any right-thinking person MAD with the manner they publish these stories.