A quarter of students in groups 7 and 8 have already encountered unwanted nude photos or videos, for example via WhatsApp, Instagram or TikTok, according to the completed questionnaire. “Photos were taken while students were showering after gym class and were later circulated,” says a teacher at a primary school in Rotterdam.
Not compulsory
Online shaming occurs more frequently in secondary education. Nine out of ten care coordinators surveyed say that it is an issue at their school. “It is a social problem that should be included in the curriculum as standard. This should be arranged by the government in The Hague,” says one care coordinator.
Most care coordinators and teachers of groups 7 and 8 say that they consider incidents of online shaming concerning or very concerning, according to the completed questionnaire. Isa IJpelaar, who was 13 when a digital nude photo of her, including her name, suddenly circulated around the school, explains that it still casts a shadow over her life, despite the fact that it happened 10 years ago: “I used to be very sociable and open; I trusted life and people. Now I am very distrustful.”
A total of 595 teachers completed the questionnaire: 410 teachers from groups 7 and 8 of primary schools and 185 care coordinators from secondary schools, whom students can turn to for help if they experience online shaming.
Although most teachers and care coordinators say that their school occasionally pays attention to the issue, for example through a guest lesson or theatre performance, schools are currently not legally required to include it in their teaching materials. This is because online shaming is not currently part of the curriculum, a list of core objectives drawn up for teachers to teach. The curriculum was last updated in 2012.
Considerable freedom
“Schools currently have a lot of freedom to decide how to address it themselves, and they do not always know exactly what they should do,” says Paulien van Haastrecht, interim director of Rutgers, a knowledge and research centre for sexuality. The education reforms, which also include attention to online shaming, have been waiting for implementation for years. “The process appears to have come to a standstill; we are impatiently waiting for improvements,” says Van Haastrecht.
“It is really important that attention is paid to this,” responds caretaker minister Arie Slob (Primary and Secondary Education and Media). “Everything must now be focused on completing this during the next government term—and, as far as I am concerned, as soon as possible—and legally establishing that media literacy must be addressed in schools.”
Teaching materials and knowledge
To be able to support students properly, teachers and care coordinators say they particularly need suitable teaching materials and more knowledge. Slob: “If the curriculum is actually changed and this becomes part of it, we know that more support and teaching materials will become available to schools.”
Pointer’s television broadcast ‘Lessons in online shaming’, about how schools deal with the unwanted distribution of nude images of their students, can be seen on Sunday evening, 9 January, at 10:10 p.m. on NPO2.