Adolescenti in rete: opportunità, rischi e consapevolezza

Introduction: The “Smartphone License Project”, promoted by the Media Education Community Association (MEC) and involving children and their parents, aims to promote social-civic skills and the responsible use of new means of communication through educational interventions at school. Objectives: To measure the effectiveness of the interventions proposed at school to improve the awareness of the use of the technology and to verify the hypothesis of a significant relationship between the acquisition of ethical, social and digital skills and the personal well-being. Methods and Material: 100 children from the first classes of a Comprehensive Insitute of school in Friuli Venezia Giulia were interviewed with some significant items of a questionnaire inspired by a work published by the University of Bergamo in the 2023/24 school year. Subsequently, 60 students were selected from the previous group, 30 of whom constituted a study group that had followed the “Smartphone License Project” and another 30 formed a control group that had not participated in the project. At these two groups, at the beginning and at the end of the project, were administered some specific questionnaires regarding Mood, Self-Esteem, Social Relations and the risk of Internet Addiction. Results: The analysis of the data, in addition to providing information on the relationship of young people with the new technology, confirmed the effectiveness of the proposed educational activities with a positive effect on mood, self-esteem and social relations and a greater awareness of the risks associated with surfing the Internet. Discussion: The use of specific educational and training projects in schools with the collaboration between teachers, parents and experts and the activities carried out in the classroom are important to promote awareness and the correct use of technology by adolescents.