La scuola e i pericoli dei social network: cosa insegnare ai nativi digitali per un uso responsabile del Web

Abstract

A recent Censis survey (an Italian statistical research institute), dated December 2016, shows that 50% of Italian children aged 11-17 has suffered violence or acts of peer aggression. Today, this behaviour is frequent, especially on social media. Some schools have organised numerous meetings to inform parents and students about privacy protection on the internet and about dangers off the social media. These meetings, supported by Postal Police, psychologists, health workers and other professionals involved, have not been successful: despite the urgency of the problem, only a few families were present. Cyberbullying is pervasive and incessant, but it is still not perceived as a problem. Codacons (Coordination of the Associations for the defense of the environment and for the rights of users and consumers) has also organised recently a round table on this topic (Rome, 14^th December 2016), where it has been urged the adoption of a draft bill on cyberbullying: this bill, finally approved on 17 May 2017 by Italian Parliament, regulates the issue and it involves the integration of the anti-cyberbullying activities into the schools. Fortunately, many initiatives have been launched to counteract this phenomenon. But it is also important to understand how to teach responsibility to students, for example by improving their digital skills, or their social and civic responsibility. Students are digital natives but they haven't got these skills that are characterized by the quality, not quantity, of social connections. In the light of these considerations, this article aims to analyzes the relationship between education and social media by trying to understand how to teach “digital responsibility” to students.