THE BOIS LOCKER ROOM SCANDAL

ITwas towards the end of March and Prashant (name changed), an arts stream student in one of Delhi’s top private schools, had just finished his Plus 2 board exams and was all set to have “some fun”. But then COVID-19 and the lockdown spoilt all his plans and confined him to his room. Worse, the ‘fun’ has gone sideways and now he fears he’ll have to spend time in a police lock-up.

Prashant was part of the now infamous Instagram group, ‘Bois Locker Room’, which came to light on May 3 when a Delhi girl shared screenshots of the sexually explicit conversations in the group. The viral post had students of Delhi’s prominent schools boasting about their sexual escapades, sharing nude/ morphed photographs of girl students and bodyshaming them. “We shouldn’t have done what we did. It was a big mistake, but we are not criminals. There was no plan to rape anyone,” says Prashant, who will turn 18 in a few months. Delhi Police cyber cell head Anyesh Roy corroborates this. The rape conversation, he confirmed, did not take place in the Bois Locker Room; it was part of a Snapchat interaction, intriguingly between a girl and a boy. The girl, assuming the fake identity of a boy, was instigating the boy at the other end of the conversation to rape her to check his “strength of character”. The boy, thankfully, refused.

But even though the ‘locker room’ boys did not plan a rape, the perverse sex talk did enough to hog the national headlines for a few days and refocus public attention on an unsettling social problem that has a myriad dimensions: the proliferation of sexually explicit content on the internet; the easy access teenagers and young adults have to it; the unregulated web traffic of this content via social media platforms; its effect on impressionable minds—and also how entrenched male privilege continues to (mis)shape gender stereotypes. In December 2019, eight students

aged 13 and 14 were suspended from a school in Mumbai for the horrific content of their WhatsApp chats, which included talk about “gang-banging” classmates.

So again we have it, the big question that pops up every time a scandal of this sort erupts. Is the digital world we live in, more importantly the easy availability of pornography, taking a heavy psychological toll on children? Dr Suresh Bada Math, head of forensic psychiatry at NIMHANS in Bengaluru, says some studies do suggest that children could be more sensitive to sexually explicit material. Dr Nimesh Desai, chairman of the Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences (IHBAS)in Delhi, has a more nuanced view. He says individualistic pleasure-seeking behaviour is nothing new. What has changed today are three things—ease of access, repetitive media content and the engagement of all senses—and this is leaving a deeper impact on the human psyche and behaviour. Children don’t even realise how it impacts their perception of what is acceptable and what is not. “It isn’t about teaching them moral values, but contemporary values. Issues of privacy, consent, understanding my pleasure has to stop when it impacts another person’s space. These must be taught to children,” says Desai.

There is also debate on how social media platforms are adding to this menace, thanks to the legal opacity in fixing accountability. Cyber law experts are demanding a revision of IT laws to make intermediary social platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter more accountable. Instagram, the intermediary in this case, has removed the chat group, but many are of the view that this is not enough. “The responsibility doesn’t end in deleting the group. Evidently, there was lack of due diligence. Appropriate action must be taken against Instagram as it can be seen that the service provider abetted the commission of these violations,” says cyber law expert Pavan Duggal. The Delhi Police cyber cell registered an FIR on May 4 under multiple provisions of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, and Information and Technology Act, 2008, but has not pressed charges against Instagram. The police has arrested the group administrator, an 18-year-old, and interrogated several members.

Supreme Court lawyer Neela Gokhale says the perpetrators must be booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, as the crime involves objectification of minors. The Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) has also issued Instagram a notice. “We have responded to it, informing the DCW of our actions, including removal of content that violated our community standards, and our ongoing efforts to create a safe online experience for Instagram users,” a spokesperson for Facebook, which owns Instagram, told india today.

But beyond the legal ramifications, the scandal has also exposed the communication breakdown among students, teachers and parents. Most schools tend to cover up such incidents fearing a loss of reputation. Sunita George, principal of Bombay Scottish School, says such instances are common across schools, but they aren’t necessarily a gender issue. “The issue is about digital ‘behaviour’ and long-term value education. Children share without thinking twice, without fear or concern for another. They know about digital footprints, but habits and attitudes towards online behaviour cannot be changed overnight,” says George. Prashant maintains that he was unaware of engaging in any criminal act. “We were chatting among friends. We didn’t expect this to get out, so we typed whatever we felt,” he says.

And even though the principals and staff at the Delhi schools involved argue that they can’t be held accountable for what students do at home, there is now an acceptance that teachers and parents need to come together to sensitise their wards about privacy, personal and shared spaces and a digital decorum alert to the dangers of the online universe. “Parents need to be involved a great deal more. If you are giving your children access to a phone, you must also guide them on its potential misuse,” says George.

Experts agree that parenting plays a key role in mitigating the harmful effects of explicit content. Parents must discuss sex, sexuality, gender-related issues with children and take steps to ensure there is a sensitive approach towards these. “Children don’t understand the nature of social media. Open conversations around gender, sex, internet behaviour are as important as conversations about diet or academics,” says Dr Upasana Chaddha, a Delhi-based psychologist, adding that it is always the survivors of slut-shaming, blackmail or sexual abuse who seek therapy. It is rare to find an offender doing so because they are always being defended and often don’t even realise their actions have caused pain to another. But even as the law takes its course, the change must begin with parents talking to their children and being categorical about what is and is not acceptable—both in the real and virtual world. And it must involve sons as much as daughters.

“Children don’t understand the gravity of social media. Open conversations around gender, sex, internet behaviour are important today”

Dr UPASANA CHADDHA Psychologist