How does the juvenile media approach terrorism and fake news?

ANALYSIS

How do you explain to a 10 year old child that a teacher was beheaded in front of his college because he had shown his students caricatures?

Many parents have asked themselves the question since the assassination, Friday, of Samuel Paty, in Conflans Sainte-Honorine.

They are not the only ones: the media for children and adolescents are regularly confronted with the particular treatment of the problems of freedom of expression and terrorism since the Charlie Hebdo attack.

Bruno Quattrone, editor-in-chief of Playbac (

,

,

) and Aude Favre, of the Fake Off collective, were the guests of

Wednesday to talk about it.

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The media of the Play Bac group covered the news relating to the attack on Samuel Paty on Tuesday.

"A geo history teacher was assassinated by an Islamist terrorist," the front page of the two newspapers read.

The word decapitated appears in the article, but only on page 3. "We asked ourselves the question," says Bruno Quattrone.

"It is not worth creating an even more traumatic image for children who would not necessarily have associated the fact that a teacher is murdered in front of his college. Already, in itself, it is very shocking for a child . There was also a risk that it would not be understood, "he says, explaining that a CE1 teacher rereads each newspaper to shed light on the concepts and words that can be used. .

"No taboo" on the subjects covered

An adapted vocabulary, therefore, but "no taboo" in the topics covered, according to the editor.

"We deal with all subjects," he says.

"When something like this happens, we are already trying to answer the children's questions, so we ask them what questions they are asking themselves to try to answer them. We really put civic education first, that is- that is to say that we return to the fundamentals. We explain what freedom, freedom of expression, freedom of the press, secularism, religions, their place. It is the press, but we also have this vocation of civic education. We really have to go back to that to help the children understand. "

For example, for the assassination of Samuel Paty, the newspaper "made an infographic with 10 words on Islamist terrorism".

And the idea is not to bypass parental education: "When we do numbers like that, which are still quite specific, we announce in a 'parents, read this article with your children'. Like that. , if ever they don't want to, it's still them who will decide. "

Charlie Hebdo, "emancipator"?

On the reception by the students, "

was quite emancipatory," says Aude Favre, member of the Fake Off collective, which was formed following the attacks of January 2015. "We left with our little pilgrim's stick. dialogue with young people, because we saw such a mass of disinformation, "says the journalist, who also hosts the YouTube channel What The Fake. 

Are there "blockages" on the part of adolescents in the face of this treatment of terrorism and freedom of expression?

"I was quite happy, because I have colleges that have started to subscribe to

" continues Aude Favre.

"Quite stupidly, I remember walking around with my

after the attacks, showing it when the question came and seeing young people laughing, seeing them learn and understand something. It overwhelmed him a little. debate. The whole question of cartoons is about a real education that would take much longer. "