14-year-old girl killed herself after being cyberbullied
(Level: Intermediate to Upper-Intermediate / B1 to B2 / ** to ***)



14-year-old Hannah Smith took her own life after being targeted by internet trolls on the controversial website Ask.fm.
 
 You are going to watch a Sky News report focusing on that tragic case.


Before watching 

 

The following words and notes could be useful:
bubbly: always happy, friendly, lively      pétillant / plein d’entrain …  
a bully: someone using their strength or power to frighten or hurt a weaker person   tyran / harceleur / persécuteur
to come off…:   to stop using…     se détacher de… / prendre ses distances de…
to get bothered: to get worried / upset      être peiné
to urge: to strongly suggest (that something should be done)    exhorter / demander instamment  / inciter vivement 
safeguarding: protection (against…)         sauvegarde
abuse:  terms of abuse / rude and offensive words        insultes / injures
noticeable: visible / obvious        évident  / visible
to open up to …: to be communicative / to start talking to       s’ouvrir à qqn / se confier à

 a troll: someone who posts controversial, inflammatory or irrelevant messages or terms of abuse…  in an online community (forums, chat rooms…) with the primary intent of upsetting people, harassing them, provoking them, causing grief…

(Office of the) Children’s Commissioner: a nonprofit organization whose task is to promote the best interests of children and young people in England. Hendry Ross who is being interviewed here is the Director of Policy (and Participation) at the Office of the Children's Commissioner.

While listening

Answer the following questions in French!

1. What makes it easy for Ask.fm users to post abuse or any such upsetting content on the site?
2. What should be done so as to urge such sites to increase their safety policies?

http://news.sky.com/story/1124978/hannah-smith-ask-fm-happy-to-help-police

 

 

 

 

 

When you are finished, check your answers!

 

1.

- Les utilisateurs peuvent intervenir anonymement;

- le site n'est contrôlé que par 50 modérateurs alors qu'il compte 52 millions d'utilisateurs.

 

2.

- Il faudrait que le gouvernement, mais aussi les parents des jeunes internautes, les utilisateurs en général de ce genre de sites mettent la pression en les incitant vivement à intensifier leur politique de gestion des risques ou de protection des utilisateurs.

 

 

 

 

 

Here is a Daily Mail article focusing on the latest developments in the case:

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2389212/Hannah-Smith-Suicide-teen-trolled-say-Latvian-website-chiefs-Ask-fm.html