– I didn’t know there were rules for which table you could sit at when I started here last year, so I sat at the wrong table and it became a big deal at Jodel. Nora Luktvassli Pedersen is in VG2 at KKG secondary school in Kristiansand. Together with her friend Delia Stensland Haakonsen, she has found a table in the canteen to eat lunch. They say that sitting in the canteen gives you status. At some tables there are unwritten rules for who is allowed to sit there and who is not. – There are several people who drop out in the last hour before lunch in order to get a table in the canteen, so it is very important for some people then, says Delia. At Kristiansand Katedralskole Gimle (KKG) there are unwritten rules for who is allowed to sit at certain tables in the canteen. Photo: Ina Marie Sigurdsen / news Anonymous harassment In a channel on the anonymous chat app Jodel, various lines at KKG in Kristiansand are exposed to harassment because those who appear to have sat on tables that “belong to” someone else. Several groups are told to stay away from the canteen. This is one of the comments that was posted on Jodel. Photo: Screenshot from Jodel The previous week, therefore, headmaster Gunvor Birkeland took action and sent a message to the headteacher. » … At the school, we are concerned that we have a safe, good and inclusive school environment, and that the pupils thrive. But now at the start of school, we see that the internet on the anonymous chat app Jodel is a problem, especially in the canteen area during lunchtime. It would be nice if those at home could have a chat about this.” The principal says that there is generally a good atmosphere at the school and a good environment, but that Jodel has become a problem for the school. – We noticed that it started to increase with anonymous messages, when it came to placement in the canteen. What is Yodel? Jodel is an app that is produced in Germany. It functions as a kind of anonymous forum, with many different categories. Here you publish both image and text completely anonymously. There are 1,600 pupils at the school and only 350 places in the canteen. The headmaster thinks it is something of a backdrop for the table culture. Now they have taken more measures. – We raise the issue into all classrooms and talk to the pupils about what we can do to ensure that everyone has a good time at school, and we ask headteachers to discuss this at home. The rector hopes that something positive will come out of this coming to light. – I think it is positive that those who silently accept this now see that they can use their dissenting voice, and that is important, she says. The headmaster at KKG, Gunvor Birkeland, says that there are a small number of students who post rude messages on Jodel, but that it is important to address incitement on anonymous websites. Photo: Ina Marie Sigurdsen / news Dropping Jodel Several classes have now agreed to drop the anonymous website. Among other things, the class of Pelle Justnæs. – Yodel is probably a big problem in the whole country. We agreed in our class today that everyone should delete Jodel. If everyone had deleted it, there would have been less control over it, says Pelle. Pelle Justnæs and Mathias Gundersen are in 3 VGS. They are among the students who have their “own” table in the canteen, but they are not at Jodel. Photo: Elin Skaar / news Trying not to care The two friends at VG2 are clear that they don’t think anything of the “table culture” that prevails at their school. – I think it is very sad, especially for new students. I think it is childish of those who write on Jodel, says Nora. Together with friends, they like to find a table a little on the edge of the most “popular”, and live well with it. – We sit together with friends and those we like and try not to worry, says Delia. Nora Luktvassli Pedersen and Delia Stensland Haakonsen are not concerned with sitting at the “correct” table in the student canteen. Photo: Elin Skaar / news
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