The Reporter for Kids - Who's in the News?

From the #MeToo incident in Taiwan in June last year (2023) to this year, artist Mickey Huang (黃子佼) was involved in the "Child and Juvenile Sexual Exploitation Prevention Ordinance" for possessing private sexual images of minors. Many incidents that were originally in the dark corners of the world and had been neglected by society for a long time are gradually being uncovered. Figures that were once too traumatized to speak out are now brave enough to come forward, hoping that with their small power, they can lift the dark clouds so that more people can feel the light of day.

With the rapid development of digital technology, sexual crimes have already broken through age and geographical boundaries. The younger a person is, the more cruel and novel sexual images can be, and the higher their market value. 

Once a child is caught in the distribution of sexual images, it is like being trapped in a hellish circuit: perpetrators first carry out sexual blackmail or request for more sexual images, and then upload these images of children to secret communities or websites. Then, netizens use these materials to find, stalk, harrass and bully victims.

Television presenter Mickey Huang (黃子佼) was part of a case involving child sexual images. He was discovered to be a member of an online forum, "Chuangyi Sifang" (創意私房), that attracted attention for containing sexually intimate videos. The video’s victims were a large number of underage students. The police Women and Children Protection Brigade even received an investigation report from the Australian police uncovering that many videos of sexual assault and molestation of children circulating in underground international pedophile networks took place in Taiwan. 

In addition to organized and commercialized crimes, individual cases of online enticement are also rampant, leaving even the most well-behaved children in the eyes of their teachers vulnerable.

Reporter for Kids interviewed several experts, social workers, and teachers who have long been concerned with and supported victims of sexual exploitation, analyzing the traps behind child sexual exploitation and considering how adults and children can combat this rapidly growing crisis.

What would you do if you got sick?

In the summer of 2021, during the summer vacation when he was about to enter his third year of high school, Jia-yuan, a student at the Affiliated High School of National Chengchi University (AHSNCCU), suffered from unexplained dizziness which lasted for several months. He loved playing volleyball, but at first he was dizzy when he jumped and landed on the ground, and then he was dizzy even when he sat still. Because his mother didn't trust Western medicine, he never sought medical attention. And in late July, when he couldn't stand it any longer, he begged his mom to let him go to the emergency room for a checkup. Yet, he fainted soon after he entered the emergency room. When he woke up, he learned that he had to face an unexpected challenge: Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL), commonly known as “blood cancer.” Jia-yuan was then admitted to the National Taiwan University Children's Hospital (NTUCH).

Recently, there have been a series of incidents in Taiwan where private videos have been leaked and circulated on internet platforms, among these are many videos of young children and young girls who have been lured and secretly photographed. This has been dubbed as Taiwan's version of the N-Room Incident and those who purchased these illegal private videos have also committed a crime.

Indigenous peoples are the earliest inhabitants of Taiwan. However, during the Japanese colonial rule, the Government-General of Taiwan ignored the territories of the mountain indigenous tribes, considering Taiwan's mountain forests as "nobody’s land" and all were designated as national resources. Subsequently, after the Nationalist government arrived in Taiwan in 1945, they continued Japan's forest policies, causing these lands that originally belonged to the tribes to become state lands. Indigenous peoples now face numerous restrictions and prohibitions if they wish to use their ancestral land for farming, hunting, or foraging.

The Islamic "Ramadan" is the most special and important month of the year for Muslims. Although they do not eat or drink during daytime, Muslim families will prepare a lavish and delicious dinner at night, inviting relatives and friends to join in breaking the fast together. Therefore, the dining table during Ramadan is not only the "annual reunion" among family and friends but also a good opportunity for business partners to visit each other, exchange ideas, and build relationships.

At the beginning of 2024, Taiwan elected its 16th president and 11th Legislature members. More than 19 million voters used their votes to show the world the achievements of Taiwan’s democracy. Although it was an open, transparent, and smooth election, it does not necessarily signify the full realization of fairness and justice. Taiwan is a multi-ethnic society, and there are many people with different cultural backgrounds on our land. Under the current political system, their voices are difficult to express through the ballot, and in many cases, they are essentially outsiders to the electoral process.

On January 24, 2022, standing in the Taipei Ambassador Theater, Yeh Chia-lung looked at Jhuge-Shiro on the huge screen, with tears welling up in his eyes. The premiere of the 1 hour and 28-minute film ended, and the closing credits appeared—"Dedicated to my father and mother." Next came the long list of credits, including well-known filmmakers and ordinary people who participated in fundraising. More than a thousand names ran before his eyes one by one, each representing a hope that contributed to this film's achievement. Thinking of this, tears streamed down Yeh’s face. Throughout the days of the film's production, he always carried himself like this—tearful, enduring, lifting his head, and smiling again. He is the eldest son of Yeh Hong-chia, the original author of the Jhuge-Shiro comic.

Taiwan’s Central Weather Administration issues national alerts to mobile phones to warn about earthquakes or excessively bad air quality, but did you know that plants also show warning signs?  The Agricultural Ministry’s Agricultural Chemicals Research Institute has been studying plants that respond quickly to pollution.