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someone video-recorded her in the school uniform in a compromising situation with
someone and posted it on social media. Mbutolwe was also a victim of doxing, where
someone had maliciously exposed her private information, such as her home address
and phone number, online. This was just the beginning of a series of cybercrimes against
her. It made the rounds and ultimately reached her parents. Upon seeing the video
and knowing that the behaviour is unacceptable in our society, her mother suffered
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a massive stroke. She was thus rushed to the hospital. Out of sheer panic, one family
member severely beat up Mbutolwe without listening to her side of the story first. The
rest is history.” Ndele said.
“It seemed it became worse because a group of trolls had been orchestrating a flame
war against Mbutolwe using fake accounts to spread rumours. To make matters worse,
they had also been catfishing unsuspecting students, manipulating them into divulging
sensitive information about her.” Another student added.

It was said that Mbutolwe pleaded with the perpetrators to stop what they were doing.
However, they continued with their campaign of harassment and even disrupted the
school’s online platforms. Feeling frustrated and helpless, Mbutolwe gave up.

“What a tragedy! We would be better off without social media, frankly speaking.”
One student remarked. “I agree! Social media are detrimental to our generation. Let’s
consider our relationships with ‘online friends’. Do our friends care about our lives?”
Asked another student.

Our class teacher, Ms Lupakisyo, who had been silent all this time said, “I feel that
social media have made people lose their ability and interest in face-to-face interaction.
This has led us to grow up learning to communicate with others by looking at the
screen, not in another person’s face. We are missing out on the interaction that made
many generations before us more mature and sensitive.” “You’re right. My sister
always chats with lots of friends on Twitter and Facebook. However, I’ve never seen
them together and she acknowledged that they have never met. They end up chatting
only on social media. In my opinion, this is not appropriate.” Ndele added.

“I beg to differ with you. Your sister doesn’t have face-to-face interaction with the
majority of her friends because she is pressed for time. You need to know that scheduling
in-person meetings can be too challenging, especially if you live far apart. Besides, if
everyone has a tight schedule, it might be difficult to schedule in-person interaction. As
a result, they opt to interact via social media,” said Pyana.

I looked around and most of my fellow students nodded their heads. I cleared my throat
to get their attention. “Guys, I know you are sad, but it is not all doom and gloom with
social media. I see your point, but through social media, my connection and interaction
have particularly been broadened. I’ve learnt to appreciate different perspectives and
increase my knowledge of various things. Through social media, I share many ideas
with various people.” Some of the students agreed with me.

Form Five 24 Tanzania Institute of Education (TIE)

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