Roast Busters: Expert says talk to your teens

Dr Tania Pinfold.

A Rotorua youth health expert says parents should use the Roast Busters scandal as an opportunity to teach their teens about safe sex practices.

Rotovegas Youth Health clinical leader Tania Pinfold said the topic could often be a difficult one for parents, but the consequences of not discussing it were "far worse".

The scandal which broke last weekend involves teens bragging online about getting underage girls drunk and having group sex with them.

It has developed through the week with police criticised for not doing enough about the issue, despite knowing about it for two years.

While she said there was little doubt some teens were sexually active, Dr Pinfold didn't believe the attitudes or practices displayed by the Roast Busters group were common place.

She was aware of cases locally where sexual images or videos had been shared, but it wasn't common.

She said parents could use the scandal as a way of discussing the issues of being sexually active, as well as safe sex practices.

The recent coverage was an opportunity to look at the attitudes of both teens and adults as to what was and what wasn't consensual, and the risks around unsafe sexual practices.

Teens were exposed to a very sexualised world, she said.

The Roast Busters group bragged online they would ply girls - some as young as 13 - with alcohol and have group sex with them. Their activities came to light this week and the Facebook page they used was shut down after media inquiries.

Dr Pinfold said the recent Youth 2012 survey showed most teenagers weren't sexually active. According to the study, just under 30 per cent of 16-year-olds said they were active.

"It made me sad because it has made the extreme behaviour of a small group sound like the behaviour of the majority."

Dr Pinfold said parents of boys "weren't off the hook"and it was equally important parents discussed the same safe-sex messages with them.

Detective Inspector Mark Loper of the Rotorua police said they looked at Facebook from time-to-time if they received information that was relevant. He said there had been some cases locally where women complained about images being circulated, but it was often women not young girls.

Mr Loper said there were some good lessons to be learnt from the Roast Busters case, not only around the dangers of social media but also about keeping teens safe, the dangers around alcohol and generally talking to teens about the consequences of their actions.

Bullyfree Bro anti-bullying co-ordinator Warren Tumarae said online bullying was a huge and ongoing problem and he said parents needed to be more aware of social media so they could better warn their children.

Mr Tumarae said a bill introduced to Parliament this week, which creates a new offence of sending messages or posting material to cause harm, would be punishable by up to three months in jail or a $2000 fine, showed the importance placed on stamping out cyber bullying.

Rotorua singer Elizabeth Marvelly tweeted about the issue.

"This roast busters thing is just so disgusting and devastating. Hope the police can nail these monsters."