Cell phone murder weapon: How quickly young people can become criminals – Bavaria

Using a smartphone poses many risks and side effects. One of the more physically noticeable ones is what is illustrated on a note on a glass door at the Willibald Gluck High School in Neumarkt in der Oberpfalz: A stick figure has turned his attention to his cell phone, stumbles and rushes down a flight of stairs in a physically painful way.

Right next door, all sorts of high-ranking women wearing uniforms and suits gathered at the school on Monday to talk about primarily psychological dangers: Neumarkt district administrator Willibald Gailer, representatives of the Nuremberg-Fürth public prosecutor’s office, the police, the district court and the Neumarkt district youth welfare office Victim Support White Ring and the school have invited people to the start of a prevention week at the high school. By Friday, around 450 students from the eighth grades of three schools should understand how quickly you can become a victim and a perpetrator in the digital world.

The increasing spread of cyberbullying, digital violence and “schoolyard pornography” shows “that we have to act together,” explains Upper Palatinate police chief Thomas Schöniger. Many young people are “not aware of the consequences of their actions”. Education is therefore “the first step in protecting young people”. In this case you have to say: to yourself – and to others.

Because between the two sides, the victim and the perpetrator, there are sometimes a few touches on the smartphone. For example, if a classmate sends a 14-year-old a pornography with adult actors, the 14-year-old is initially a victim of the criminal offense of disseminating pornographic content. If he sends the video to a friend of the same age, he is committing a criminal offense for the same crime – he made pornography available to a minor as a criminal.

If the videos do not show adults but – as is increasingly the case – minors, the penalties are even higher. By sending such content, you are not only harming the victim, i.e. the person being recorded, says Police Chief Schöniger. But also the addressee of the images. A photo in a group chat turns all members into accomplices.

“Now is this child pornography?” Yes, is the answer – it is

When investigating and prosecuting such crimes, investigators paid particular attention to the context of young people, says Sebastian Pelkhofer from the Nuremberg-Fürth public prosecutor’s office. For example, if a 17-year-old sends porn to a 16-year-old friend, this would be less serious than if a 15-year-old sent a picture of his genitals to a girl two years younger. There are no dedicated statistics, says Pelkhofer, but the ownership and distribution of criminally relevant images have increased significantly among young people. He speaks of a “leap” in recent years. Certain depictions are “now going viral and are being widely disseminated.”

What Pelkhofer and the others present also notice: there is often a lack of awareness of injustice. According to the public prosecutor, they repeatedly experienced young people who shared “supposedly funny content” and were surprised: “Now this is child pornography?” Yes, then the answer is – it is.

To attract more attention, Marvin Sperber will also be present on this day. The 24-year-old is an influencer with almost 2.5 million followers across platforms, makes, as he himself says, “funny videos with often serious backgrounds” and works with the Upper Palatinate police for the action week. In his childhood, as a black person, he had a lot to do with bullying and racism, he says. For him, the project is on the one hand “part of the further processing” and on the other hand he wants to show the children “that they are not alone”. In terms of content, his exchange with the children on Monday remains manageable; they would much rather get selfies and autographs from Sperber. But at least: It increases attention for the topic.

In order to develop a better understanding of the crimes and their victims, the eighth graders visit three stations in Neumarkt: the police station, where officers explain to them in a lecture what crimes can be committed in digital space. The district court, where you act as judge, defendant, public prosecutor, defense attorney and co-prosecutor in a fictitious trial and learn what consequences your actions can have for you. And the fire station, where they and experts from the White Ring shed light on those crimes for which there are no provisions in criminal law, but which can have serious consequences for the victims.

“What actually is cyberbullying?” is the question a projector throws onto a screen in the fire brigade’s training room and Alexander, 13, has an idea: “When you send something that hurts others.” Luckily, he doesn’t have one himself yet Experience has shown that something like this day is rarely an issue. “Today is the first time we’re really dealing with it,” he says. Meanwhile, Alexander’s group members divided the effects of cyberbullying into two areas on a poster. “Mental health effects – you feel bad (excluded, suppressed), suicidal thoughts” it says. And “physical impact: stomach ache, you hurt yourself.”

Open detailed view

The inhibition threshold for getting help is very high for victims of cyberbullying, says Doris Klingseisen, the state chairwoman of the White Ring Bavaria-Nord. Victims of psychological injuries often suffered even more than victims of physical injuries. “Nobody sees this pain, but it’s in here,” she says, putting her hand on her heart.

This question is also on the screen: Why does someone bully someone else? “Out of envy, or if you’re not happy with yourself,” says Sara, 17. Her classmate Emilia sees it similarly: “Because of your own weaknesses,” says the 13-year-old. And then there is the fourth question: How can you protect yourself from, what can you do against cyberbullying? “You shouldn’t be intimidated by it,” says Emilia.