After a relationship with a nude photo: the danger lurking on the net

The case in a school in Graz causes great horror: a religion teacher is said to have bought nude photos from his underage students. The photos were submitted via the Snapchat social media platform. Teacher may have used an account with a maiden name – her job was terminated Wednesday by the education department with immediate effect and the psychologists are also on duty – more on this in the nude photo story: Psychologists in service.

Virtual initiation as a common trick

When adults use the Internet to gain the trust of children and young people in order to sexually harass them, this is called “cyber grooming” or virtual initiation. Denise Schiffrer-Barac, a children’s and youth lawyer in Styria, says it’s a common trick to get the content you want.

Because the inhibition threshold for sending naked photos of oneself in this way is often low: “We observe that nowadays it is common in young relationships to send nude photos or revealing photos. But ‘grooming’. initiating a contact on the Internet, the anonymous initiation of a contact in which I do not know the other person on the other side, is still punishable, we must be careful and young people must know “.

Young people experience a false sense of security

The only way to protect young people is through education. For example, photos sent via the Snapchat messaging service are usually only visible to the recipient for a few seconds, but young people would feel a false sense of security: “There are apps, there are still ways to save these photos, and then Of course. , these photos can be used in any way – it is clearly punishable, but of course it is unfortunately the case that they are distributed everywhere and as the author of these photos you are no longer in control. “

Lighting is also in demand in schools

In general, Schiffrer-Barac recommends only sending photos that would also be published elsewhere: “I believe that the knowledge of what the Internet can do and store – that is, everything – is not yet known.” Specialized organizations such as “Saferinternet” would offer good educational work and parents should also be made aware. The Styrian advocate for childhood and youth calls for schools to raise awareness of the new school subject “digital basic education”.