Editorial: Beware candid cameras

The media storm around the drunk Southland man who subjected a Pakistan-born taxi driver to a tirade of racial abuse gets you thinking about modern technology. I'm sure the drunken man never imagined his rant would go viral on the internet.

Part of me wished I had thought to whip out my phone and started filming another incident I witnessed here in Rotorua on Sunday.

Although it didn't involve a racial rant, it was a display of shocking parenting which has left me feeling really sad for the child involved.

I was seeing off family at Rotorua Airport and overheard a conversation between a mother and her young son.

The mother had been on the phone to whom I assumed was her ex and was loudly arguing and swearing with him. She was saying "are you calling your own son a liar?"

She then handed the phone to the young boy beside her who muttered something to his father.

The woman got off the phone and lay into her son for wanting to live with his dad. The poor little boy sat there staring blankly ahead - clearly upset at having to deal with his bickering parents. People standing around were also gobsmacked.

In hindsight, I should have said something to the woman but a big part of me didn't want to get involved in a family dispute.

Imagine if I were so bold as to film the incident and put it on YouTube (not that I would as this would have further embarrassed the child). I'm sure the mother would have regretted the way she spoke to her son and would be reluctant to do it again.

Video cameras can also land your bad behaviour in court. Just ask a local mother and daughter whose fight with a Rotorua Countdown staff member went viral. They now have assault charges on their records.

So next time you consider behaving badly in public, take a moment before launching into your outburst because you never know if you are being caught on camera and potentially being exposed to millions of viewers.