An avatar has been set up in the famous video game "Fortnite" to help children and adolescents who are abused or suffering so that they can confide in "real" adults.
The Blue Child association carried out an unprecedented experiment during the confinement which was currently kept secret. Thanks to the appearance of a winged avatar dressed in blue that could be found in the very popular online game "Fortnite", more than 350 children or adolescents, abused or suffering, have been able to discreetly confide in "true" adults. The association hopes that this approach will serve as a springboard for a lasting device so that video games can enable children in danger to raise the alarm.
The director of the association, Laura Morin, wanted to respond to the "challenge number one" who is from "allow the child to speak, and the adults to identify that there is a problem "." Young people do not use the same media as we adults. We have to adapt and find new ways to get in touch with them ", she explains.
Volunteers then integrated into the famous game an avatar called "Blue child " and took turns to do it "live" During months. This character was designed to meet young players, connected at the same time as him, who wanted to talk to him about their personal problems.
In a month, no less than 1,200 children or adolescents, aged 10 to 17, contacted the Blue Child. If in the majority of cases, young people clicked out of curiosity, 30% of them "confided in more or less serious personal problems" and "some have reported being in an extremely emergency situation ". The Blue Child association was thus able to direct them towards specialized structures, adapted to their different problems.
To communicate with young people without the experience coming to parents' ears, the association chose to communicate on the project thanks to influencers known in the world of "gamers ". "This is the right channel, the right vocabulary so that we can be clearly understood by the children who need it, without drawing the attention of those who mistreat them", ensures Fabrice Plazolles, from the communication agency Havas Sports & Entertainment, who piloted the operation. "Since the children were confined and had no other means of raising the alarm, it would have been dramatic if a parent had seen the device and cut off access to the console ", he adds.
"If you are the victim of any form of violence, add the Epic EnfantBleu account on Fortnite to chat discreetly "suggested the messages posted on social networks.
This experience is "encouraging" and confirms that video games can be a great way for abused children to come out of silence and confide. From now on, the association hopes to go further. Next September, Laure Morin will meet representatives of video game publishers, magistrates and specialized police, as well as the State Secretariat for Child Protection for "offer one more tool in the arsenal for children to call for help, taking their point of view".