GOSPEL musician Fungisai Zvakavapano-Mashavave has
expressed concern over what she described as “abuse” of children featured on
several video clips circulating on social media platforms.
A victim of cyber-bullying, the Makomborero hitmaker told
NewsDay Life &Style recently that children should be protected and urged
artistes to refrain from using children in some social media works.
Zvakavapano-Mashavave was speaking following the
circulation of a video clip of young girls clad in school uniform doing
sexually suggestive dances as well as the magate baby video, derived from Inzo
Ishall’s song about a woman told by a self-proclaimed prophet that
she needed
several gallons of anointing water to cleanse her of a sex demon.
“I have seen children’s right to privacy and other rights
being violated and I think if we are going to be good stewards and opinion
leaders, it has to start with us as artistes. Filming children and publicising
the recordings without their parents’ or guardians’ consent should be condemned
because the harm goes deeper than what we can see or imagine,” she said.
“Social media is a wild world and it is unhealthy for any
child to be exposed to it as adult entertainment, in anyway. May the adult
world find more entertainment options other than children’s videos. I refer to
the Chisipite girls, the magate baby and crying ECD babies and many others that
have been widely circulated on social media.”
Zvakavapano-Mashavave said children have a right to
protection from such exposure and its effects.
“Children are exposed to a lifetime of ridicule and
emotional trauma. These are the things that will resurface and haunt their
critical teenage days which have a bearing on their personal ultimate
development,” she said.
The musician said she once contemplated quitting music due
to cyber-bullying. This followed photo-shopped pictures about her appearance at
the
Zimdancehall awards which went viral on social media.
“My personal pictures were photo-shopped in a degrading
manner. I was being attacked for being a simple girl. This cyber-bullying was
my worst experience, but I left everything in God’s hands. I even went for days
without appropriate sleep or food,” she said. Newsday
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