TOP STORY: Text bullies go free

MANDY SMITH
The mother of a Hastings boy hounded by text bullies says she is at breaking point after Vodafone and police refused to intervene because of "a crazy loophole".
Earlier this month, a 12-year-old was sent obscene text messages and threatened with violence during a six-day text siege of the pupil's cellphone by at least two former pupils at Heretaunga Intermediate, his mother, Leanne Richards, said.
Ms Richards removed her son, who wants to remain anonymous, from the school earlier in the year following harassment by classmates.
"I rang Vodafone and they said they could not block the number because it did not constitute four threatening messages within seven days," Ms Richards said.
"If you're physically bullied, you can go to the police and get help after the one assault. But over the phone, you have to wait until you're abused four times. I'm appalled. It should be dealt with there and then."
Outraged, she contacted Hastings police, who left a voicemail on the bullies' phone.
"The police said their hands were tied regarding the phone side of it. They could probably rap the kids on the knuckles and say 'naughty' but I thought that was just a waste of time," she said.
Deciding to take matters into her own hands, Ms Richards called the number and spoke to a young female, who cursed her and denied sending the texts. When the abusive texts continued, it was that call by her that Vodafone claimed prevented them from intervening again, she said.
"They said they couldn't help - they couldn't do a darn thing because of my contact with that number.
"That's absolutely mind-boggling. I'm his mother. Any mother would fight for their child."
Vodafone's head of corporate responsibility Raphael Hilbron said a criteria of four unanswered offensive messages within seven days, adopted in recent months, was necessary to verify the pattern of behaviour as bullying and not a two-way argument.
"Telecom used to ask for five instances and we asked for three. In our partnership with (internet safety group) NetSafe and the police, we were asked to align our processes and decided to meet halfway."
Victims of cellphone misuse should avoid responding to the offending text, keep a record of the text and contact Vodafone or NetSafe, he said.
"The automatic reaction is to respond but we are trying desperately to educate people not to respond because that confirms to the originator that they made successful contact with you and you are now engaged in dialogue."
If the criteria were met, possible remedies open to the company were sending the offending party a warning text or call, blocking them from texting the victim, or blocking the offender from the Vodafone network.
Senior constable for Hastings youth aid section Ross Stewart said police took text bullying very seriously. He said there was a "great myth" that people under the age of 14 were untouchable by the law. Depending on the severity of the offence, children could still be held accountable for their actions in the youth court but, ideally, the situation would be rectified by the family and school, Mr Stewart said.
Heretaunga Intermediate deputy principal Murray Jamieson said he was unaware of the text bullying allegations.