Sex and social networks: "Forbidden Zone" deciphers the dangers that await teenagers

This is the kind of documentary that parents of teenagers or pre-teens should watch in order to select a few passages to show their offspring, as a preventive measure or to limit the damage... Uplifting, disturbing and shocking, the new issue of Zone Interdite lifts the veil on all the dangers, for adolescents, of sexuality in the digital age. The pitfalls are numerous and apart from prevention, information and dialogue, there is not much to avoid them.

Flirting goes through the exchange of “nudes”

Less than a decade ago, flirting was not done on social networks. Today it goes through this and one of the "proofs of love" suggested by one of the lovers, sometimes even after a few days of relationship, is to ask for a photo of the other naked or completely naked - we call it a “nude”. There is a real pressure on this subject, a completely unjustified emotional blackmail. “Three, four years ago, it was more high school students who sent nudes to each other, notes sexologist Véronique Agrapart, nowadays, it is middle school students from 6th, 5th, 4th. They don't know what it's like to wait for the first kiss, the first caress (…) they will start their love life by seeing the other naked directly in a photo, from a distance”.

» READ ALSO - 20 years in 2021: what does young people's sexuality look like?

Sextortion, “fisha” and cybercriminals

Problem, when the couple separates, it very often happens that one of them “spins” the “nudes” on social networks. This photo becomes a weapon against the person concerned who is humiliated in class and often becomes the victim of cyberbullying with "nude" blackmail to obtain money, new photos (hence the infernal circle!) or, worse, sexual favors (known as "sextortion"). The young Aliya testifies at length and without taboo to explain how she was the victim of a sexual predator who asked her for degrading photos of her which ended up being sent to her entire class. She thought she was dealing with a “virtual” lover and was afraid of being left, she was only 14 at the time and was totally under the influence of this cybercriminal.

His story is not an isolated case and these descents into hell for teenagers, and their loved ones, are more and more frequent, especially since the first confinement during which thousands of "nudes" circulated in France against the will of the persons concerned. Girls are the first victims, but boys can be too. There is also a mass phenomenon called "fisha" (verlan of "poster") which consists of exposing these photos on social networks, with the mention of the name of the person, their school, their address …

When we look at this issue of Zone Interdite, we have the impression that there is no solution to this scourge, especially since the teenage victims do not dare to sound the alarm bell and talk about it to their parents they are so ashamed. As the documentary denounces, some even killed themselves because this harassment seemed to them to be hopeless. There is an association called e-Enfance, with a free Green telephone number, which has the power to delete the accounts of budding cybercriminals and other sexual predators. In two years, calls from parents and victims have increased by 30%. Sharing a "nude" that one has received, namely disclosing it without the person's consent, currently exposes you to 2 years in prison and a fine of 60,000 euros. If it is a minor: 7 years in prison and a fine of 100,000 euros.

A trivialization, among teenagers, of the practices seen in porn

The M6 ​​magazine also demonstrates the fact that teenagers have a biased image of porn, imagining, girl as well as boy, that everything that we see there must be practiced as a couple and sometimes from the first sexual relationship. There is thus, for example, a trivialization of the anal relationship. According to the documentary, 44% of teens who have sex report reproducing practices they have seen in porn. Girls feel “forced” to do certain things, certain sex positions, and boys think they absolutely have to be asked.

” READ ALSO - Children facing an alarming “pornopandemia”

The documentary also touches on the terrifying problem of internet pornography. By age 12, one in three children has already been exposed to porn. This category of images for adults is indeed sometimes hidden on TikTok, the very popular and fun social network that is all the rage among children. “Anything that is porn content not adapted to the age of the person can be the equivalent of a psychic rape, explains Véronique Agrapart, and, as a sexologist, we recover patients with the same consequences as a rape real, with years of therapy sometimes because of a video seen at eight or ten years old!”.

» Follow all the news from TV Magazine on Facebook and Twitter.

SEE ALSO - “The Tinder-style “express” dating model has found its limits”