Digital Harm Brief: Mugging

What is ‘mugging’?

‘Mugging’ is a type of behaviour where someone deliberately captures and shares an image or video of another person looking awkward, upset, or caught off-guard. The image or video may be edited to highlight or emphasise an individual’s physical features. These posts are often shared on social media for entertainment, reactions, or to embarrass the person featured.

In schools, this can involve students recording or taking a photo of classmates without permission – sometimes during lessons, in the playground, or on the way home. While some students might see it as a joke, ‘mugging’ or ‘mugshots’ can cause real harm.

What’s the harm?

‘Mugging’ can feel like public humiliation for the person targeted. The harm includes:

• Embarrassment and shame: Being shown online in an unflattering or upsetting way can make students feel humiliated.
• Bullying and harassment: Videos or images may attract cruel comments or be reshared widely. This can contribute to other students demonstrating in-person bullying or harassment behaviours toward the person targeted.
• Loss of trust: Students may feel unsafe at school if they worry about being recorded without permission.
• Reputation damage: Once shared online, content is hard to remove and may affect friendships or wellbeing.
• Impact on learning: If students fear being recorded, it can affect their confidence to participate in class.

Even if some students think it’s just a prank, the impact of ‘mugging’ can be long-lasting and harmful.

What can schools do?

Schools play a key role in stopping harm from ‘mugging’ and supporting students’ digital wellbeing. Actions schools can take include:

• Educate students: Teach young people about consent, respect, and why recording or sharing others without permission is harmful.
• Update policies: Ensure school policies cover digital behaviour, including rules about recording and sharing images or videos.
• Encourage reporting: Remind students they can tell a trusted adult, teacher, or school counsellor if they’ve been targeted.
• Support affected students: Offer wellbeing support, and take action if bullying or harassment is involved.
• Work with whānau: Share resources and encourage conversations at home about online respect and responsibility.

By setting clear expectations and addressing incidents quickly, schools can reduce the harm caused by ‘mugging’ and create safer digital spaces.

Need help?

If you, your students, or staff are experiencing issues with online harm, Netsafe can help. We provide free, confidential, and non-judgemental advice.

You can get in touch with us:

• Call toll-free on 0508 NETSAFE (0508 638 723) within New Zealand
• Call +6496660840 if calling from overseas
• Email [email protected](mailto:[email protected])
• Report online(https://report.netsafe.org.nz/)
• Text ‘Netsafe’ to 4282