Life

Woman Contacts Mothers Of Guys Making Rape Threats

Last year ushered in a trend of teenagers leaving Facebook because their parents are using it, with teens claiming they were embarrassed by the public nature of their parents' posts about them or their excessive commenting on statuses and pictures. I'm guessing none of them were nearly as embarrassed as these boys, whose Facebook-active mothers were about to get the shock of their lives. Alanah Pearce, video game reviewer and radio presenter, contacted the mothers of boys sending rape threats to her on Facebook, in what might be one of the most awesome uses of social media to date.

Pearce, a 21-year-old based in Australia, is well-known in the gaming industry for her YouTube videos on products and maintains a popular Facebook page, which is where the threats were originally generated. She took matters into her own hands by contacting the mothers of four of the boys, one of whom she has already heard back from, apologizing for her son's behavior.

The move has generated some overwhelming support for the gaming personality on social media—as well as some unfortunate, and unsurprising, new rape threats which have prompted her to remove private messaging from her Facebook account. Still, with Twitter harassment of women remaining an ongoing issue, Pearce's move sends out a powerful message to harassers, especially those who act out of the confidence of their anonymity: they are every bit as human as the people they harass, and are not above consequences.

Of course, I'd love to live in a world where we can only make an impression on someone sending threats by tattling on them, but until that world exists, I can't help my glee at seeing it happen. Here's hoping that when the other mothers find out, it will be the last access to social media that their sons have until they learn how to behave like civil human beings.

Images: YouTube, Twitter