MEAU continues fight against online shaming with visit to own high school
‘Piece of Me’ moves dozens of schools with information lessons about online shaming
Singer MEAU returned to the classroom of her secondary school in Weesp today. She visited the Vechtstede College to make pupils aware of the consequences of online shaming and the unwanted forwarding of other people's intimate images. Since MEAU released the song 'Stukje van Mij', she and initiator KPN have inspired more than 60 schools to provide information about online shaming.
Meau and 'Stukje van Mij' have caused a stir and have changed the way Dutch society looks at online shaming and in particular the unwanted forwarding of other people's intimate images. "With Stukje van Mij we mainly want to combat 'victim blaming' and make a problem that affects around 33,000 young people every six months discussable," says MEAU. "I am extremely proud that together with KPN we have touched so many people and moved them to treat each other better."
To further promote this important theme, KPN is offering more than 60 information lessons on online shaming for Dutch secondary schools this year. The lessons are given by expert Francien Regelink and are free of charge for the participating schools. Today, Francien stood next to MEAU at the Vechtstede College in front of almost 300 third-year students and together they passed on the proverbial baton in the fight against online shaming, with the important message: think before you forward.
Young people who are not offered the lesson through their school can find more information and practical tips at www.wtfff.nl. Especially for parents who want to know more about online shaming and want to learn how to discuss this topic with their child(ren), KPN is organizing digital parent evenings together with Fonds Slachtofferhulp, Soa Aids Rutgers and Helpwanted. These live webinars will take place on September 9 and 17. You can still register via overons.kpn/ouderavond.
About Piece of Me
‘Piece of Me’ is an initiative of MEAU and KPN and is supported by the Rutgers Foundation, Fonds Slachtofferhulp, Helpwanted, Soa Aids Nederland. Piece of Me went viral within three weeks: the accompanying video was viewed more than 33 million times, the hit was in the top 50 for 16 weeks and achieved no less than 15 million streams on Spotify, for which MEAU received a gold record in July. The campaign sparked a social debate that took the topic of online shaming out of the taboo sphere, and resulted in questions and action in the House of Representatives. In response to this success, MEAU and KPN also released the song in English: ‘Piece of my Soul’. See https://www.kpn.com/stukjevanmij for more information.om/stukjevanmij voor meer informatie.