2023-09-29 15:06:00
In Ghent, two students came forward to their school management because they had shared messages regarding their classmates with a “Gossip Girl account”. The online channel targeted students at the Sint-Paulus Institute with wide-ranging sexual gossip. The school principal has already contacted the police
This case is not unique, far from it. These accounts are popping up all over Belgium. And in fact, many, in their name, currently refer to the series “Gossip Girl” and to this mysterious blogger who reveals all the latest gossip and rumors regarding students.
“A school without harassment does not exist”
“The administrators of these communities mainly use encrypted messaging Telegram”, describes Niels Van Paemel, Sexual Abuse Expert at Child Focus. Essentially school communities but can be other, village for example. “We find everything there, fake news or real things that affect private life. A girl cheated on her boyfriend, a dead drunk guy vomited on herself. The list of the ‘sluttiest’ girls in school and how to contact them. Sexist remarks. Degrading photos. Bashing. This all amounts to harassment. We see a lot of sexist abuses. In 95%, it is girls who are victims but not only boys.”
Why such wickedness? “Through this practice, users are less aware of the harm done, compared to a face-to-face insult. We find the same denial on social networks. For comparison, I will refer to an American study on soldiers active in Vietnam. The soldier who shot and killed a person in front of him suffered more from post-traumatic stress than the pilot who bombed and killed dozens of people. The fact of witnessing first-hand the consequence of one’s action is more striking.”
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