Students have a problem with borderline stickers in WhatsApp groups and class chats. In some cases, criminal images are even shared, even in younger grades.

This was reported by Smiley eV, an association that promotes media literacy and works a lot with schools. The association regularly holds workshops to promote media skills. These workshops are not only for students, but also for their parents. In the association's student workshops, students increasingly complained about stickers that were unpleasant for them and were sent in class chats on WhatsApp, among other things.

At the beginning of the workshops, many people don't dare to say what exactly is bothering them. With statements like “disgusting stickers annoy me” the young people then evade the question. If you ask further questions, you will receive more concrete statements later. From “I think what XYZ always sends is perverted” to “I don’t really want any porn stickers on my cell phone” to “I don’t want the stickers with Hitler either!” a lot of things then bubble out from the young people. In some cases, this even goes so far that parents are thinking about reporting their classmates because swastikas are being sent.

In conversations with classes, it quickly becomes clear that although many students feel disturbed by such messages, only a few dare to communicate it in the same way. Students say they don't want to mess with anyone. But that's exactly the wrong approach, because it can increase the motivation to post such stickers.

This news is currently a topic in many classes, some schools are informed by parents, and sometimes the students themselves contact the teachers. In cooperation with the police, in some cases criminal charges are even filed because symbols are sent that are prohibited in Germany according to Section 86 of the Criminal Code. Such as swastikas or right-wing extremist symbols, which are used in addition to stickers with pornographic content.

What are stickers on WhatsApp?

Stickers have been available on WhatsApp since autumn 2018. Definitely a nice addition to communication within the messenger. Normally there are also completely harmless animals, hearts and symbols that are often sent in combination. Nothing that seems worrying at first glance. Sticker collections can be downloaded and then easily sent directly via the messenger with just a few clicks. Of course, you could also send pictures beforehand by selecting and sending them as photos from your own gallery. Stickers, on the other hand, are integrated directly into the messenger after they have been downloaded and can therefore be accessed much faster than normal images. Accordingly, the inhibition threshold to send an offensive sticker is significantly lower.

Children and young people are not always the target group, for example with pornographic stickers. Many are not fundamentally banned; not every sticker with borderline humor and a picture of Hitler is a criminal offense. Adults can usually classify this and understand the irony or humor behind such pictures. However, this ability is usually not yet fully available in children and young people. Unfortunately, such stickers often end up in groups with children and young people without the adults giving it much thought. In some cases, the younger generation is even intentionally exposed to such content. For example, when political statements are definitely intended to be distributed to young people. It is also relatively easy to create such stickers yourself.

Children and young people sometimes don't know much about the Nazi era

According to Smiley eV, many children and young people simply lack the background knowledge to recognize content with a right-wing radical background. According to a 2017 study by the Körber Foundation, only around 47% of 14 to 16 year olds know that Auschwitz was a Nazi concentration and extermination camp during World War II. The younger the children are, the lower the number of “knowers” ​​is estimated. Nowadays, history lessons only cover the Second World War and the Holocaust from the 9th grade onwards. Even though some children do talk to their parents about these topics, many don't know exactly who Hitler actually was. So it's no surprise that, for example, a sticker with the heading "Grand Theft Auschwitz" (a reference to the very popular computer game "Grand Theft Auto") and a collage with photos of Anne Frank and Adolf Hitler, among others, are not considered at all by most children is recognized as problematic, since many z. B. Anne Frank is completely unknown.

Children who talk openly about these topics with their parents are unlikely to share such content carelessly. In many schools, these problem areas are even discussed with children and young people independently of the curriculum. Mostly in some kind of intervention when there have been right-wing extremist incidents. These are often swastikas on the toilet doors or something similar. Teachers take these topics very seriously. Even if the whole thing was just a joke, the topic is taken up, because it's not about whether such a sticker should be funny, but about what effect it has.

Parents should therefore pay attention and talk to their children about which content is problematic and, above all, explain why this is so. Only an open conversation and education can help the children to correctly assess which stickers should not actually be shared.

via

smiley-ev.de

Author: Nicole Reimuth

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