TV show uses Mentimeter to tackle difficult topics
“No Pot Ser” is a Catalonian TV-show about the impact of technology on our society. In early 2020 an episode about the effects of online pornography use in schoolchildren was aired. In this episode, the presenter and a sex therapist used Mentimeter to collect responses from the fifty teenagers to get real and honest answers about the impact of pornography and their perception of sex. We sat down with Álex Solá, Editor in Chief - No Pot Ser to talk about their process in making the show.
Talking about sensitive topics can be difficult at the best of times, but talking about sex with teenagers can be a whole challenge of its own. When “No Pot Ser” set out to create a show which explored the effects of online pornography use in schoolchildren they knew it would be a challenge, as Álex Solá explains “teenagers they like to talk about sex a lot, of course, but they don’t like to talk about sex with adults - that’s the worst nightmare for a teenager”. Therefore, the producers of the show had to work out how to gather insights in a way that would engage teens without embarrassing them in front of their peers. The producers chose Mentimeter to help them facilitate the investigation, “it was a massive task for us to find real and honest answers from teenagers without revealing who contributors were” Álex said, reflecting on the challenges of producing a show like this.
During the episode, the presenter and a sex therapist used Mentimeter to ask fifty students different questions related to online pornography. The students could instantly see their anonymous answers on the screen at the front of the class, which caused some giggles, but more importantly, it collected real and honest data and opened the room for discussion. Afterwards, the data was shared with a group of parents, to get their reaction as Álex explains that “Parents tend to think their kids are angels and they would never watch porn. But the truth is that we find out that in a group of fifty, almost 80% of them watched porn before they were 10 years old. That gives you a perspective of everything in that conversation right, the actions they see on porn, they take it as the regular thing, as the norm.” Through using Mentimeter the show could challenge misconceptions and really look at the impact of technology on our society through discussing difficult topics.
By using Mentimeter as opposed to a traditional survey tool, the facilitators were able to create a space where the teenagers could express themselves freely without judgement, whilst at the same time interesting and important insights could be collected. Álex concludes, “I believe that we couldn’t have done this show without a tool like Mentimeter”.
Video transcript
“No Pot Ser” is a Catalonian TV-show about the impact of technology on our society.They wanted to make an episode about the effects of online porn use in school children. We sat down with one of the producers to talk about their process in making the show.
So we wanted to make a show about the impact of pornography, internet porn on teenagers. It really was a sensitive matter because you cannot have a teenager speaking about his sexual life on TV, even less on a public broadcaster. So it was a massive task for us to find real and honest answers from teenagers without revealing who contributors were. This episode of No Pot Ser was a different format from the other episodes. In this case, we put fifty teenagers in a classroom they were kids around thirteen to fourteen years old, boys and girls mixed 50/50 and then we did the Mentimeter actually with them.
So we had our presenter with a sex therapist who was giving the questions to the kids and the kids would answer on the phones and we will have the answer right away on a screen in the classroom. So Mentimeter was excellent for that because it gave us the anonymity of the student.
So in parallel, we show another sequence with a group of four or five parents and we would give them the answers the kids had given us in the classroom. Parents tend to think their kids are angels and they would never watch porn or something like that. But the truth is that we find out that in a group of fifty, almost 80% of them watched porn before they were 10 years old - that was the first questions of the show. That gives you a perspective of everything in that conversation right, the actions they see on porn, they take it as the regular thing, as the norm. So that when they start exploring their sexuality in real life, the expectations are porn expectations, so that leads to frustration.
You know, teenagers they like to talk about sex a lot, of course, but they don’t like to talk about sex with adults - that’s the worst nightmare for a teenager. So we have this way to do it and I think it fits the subject perfectly. They could have their own phones, so it felt natural for them. The sex therapist was really used to speaking with teenagers, so I believe they felt safe, so they could be honest in the answers so in the end, for us, it was perfect because we would not have only one kid’s questions, but fifty kids’ questions.
I believe that we couldn’t have done this show without a tool like Mentimeter.
