It is not allowed, so it is interesting: at OBS De Linth in Helmond, group 8 students receive fireworks lessons on Tuesday afternoon. Although it seems like mopping with the tap open, if you look at what children are exposed to via TikTok, prevention keeps trying. So that everyone goes into the new year with all their fingers crossed.
“How old do you have to be to light a nitrate?” asks a 12-year-old boy. There are two BOAs and someone from Halt standing in front of the class. “A nitrate?”, the master repeats with surprise in his voice. “Okay, okay. A nitrate,” the little guy corrects himself. Joost may know where he has that knowledge. But during class the internet turns out to be a true knowledge base for fireworks games.
This is where this class differs from the classes of the past. Fireworks lessons from Halt have been out for years, but with all the videos on the internet and social media, young people are sent all kinds of stupid ideas with a swipe. “You never see anything go wrong there,” the same boy notes. “They don’t add that.”
Educational and dangerous
“They experience everything,” says teacher Jim van Ooijen about his children’s social media use. He teaches group 8 at De Linth and tries to keep the pre-teens under control during their guest lesson.
“On the one hand, the internet is very educational, on the other hand, they also see things that are not intended for children.” The eternal, devilish dilemma of the zeitgeist.
Thunderkingroulette
Soon the students are firing the examples around the classroom. This also includes the term ‘thunderkingroulette’, because one of the boys saw it on TikTok. Thunderkings are a form of prohibited fireworks. And if you add a roulette form to it, it is a very dangerous game with fireworks flying all around. Who gets hit, or what he shoots at, is the roulette aspect in this case. And that’s what children get to experience on TikTok.
“You say it with a big smile, but I don’t find this funny at all. This scares me,” the master says to his student. The boys in class in particular talk about cat1 and cat2 fireworks as if it were the most normal thing in the world. It can all be found on the internet. Their personal front pages are full of them.
‘Give it now’
In this case, that is where the municipality of Helmond comes into play. BOAs and police officers mainly take action in the event of nuisance, but the municipality sees the opportunity to take action in advance.
“We are now trying to teach children what the impact is if things go wrong and how to deal with fireworks,” says policy advisor Julia Overberg. “They can certainly have a party, but preferably without explosions.”
No bang, but ball
You may remember the commercial from the past: ‘you’re a bovine if you stunt with fireworks’. The same message is proclaimed at schools in Helmond, but in a different guise. “No bang, just ball.” No fireworks, but a party. Although the question always remains whether students listen to this.
“It’s mainly a bit of peer pressure,” says teacher Jim. “My colleagues and I always worry about that.” This happens outside of school, namely. And then it sometimes makes it elusive for teachers. “You hope that they will take it into their heads, but you are aware that you have limited influence. So we have to tackle it with the parents, as a team. And then every New Year you have to hope that your students will come back with ten fingers.”