Nowadays there is a new element that contaminates the social life of young people: their strong involvement in the dimension of virtuality through technologies, to establish new relationships in the world of social networks, to explore and multiply personal identities using Facebook or Youtube, where teenagers can produce videos for the Youtube platform.
What is striking is the speed and intensity with which children's lives, over the course of just a decade, have moved from real life to online one, completely changing teenagers attitudes , habits, communication and relational styles.
The extreme familiarity with the web world has led to growing socialization within digital platforms
and through "apps" that allow you to get in touch with a lot of people all over the world.
Global digitization gives a really rapid transformation, particularly affecting the very young precisely in their socialization processes, so much that adults often have a "lack" of adequate skills to support their virtual growth.
The teens need for socialization, brought to the web world, has allowed children to experience all the positive aspects in an intense and meaningful way. Today they can stay in touch in real time without any geographical limitations or cost problems: with Skype you can talk and see a friend who lives far away, with Instagram you can transmit images of your "here and now" to someone who is thousands kilometers away, social networks allow you to expand your knowledge , explore new friendships and contacts, perhaps selecting each other based on musical preferences, previous participation in public events or the passion for a writer, an artist and so on.
But precisely this extraordinary speed of contact and no limits accessibility has also led to the awareness of many negative aspects, connected to virtual socialization. The first one is represented by the need to be seen in order to get public visibility , so much that some authors define our time as the " era of narcissism ”. Another frequent problem is due to the attitude of many girls to get involved in the phenomenon of sexting, an English term born from the crasis of the words sex and texting.
It is therefore necessary to bring young people back to "live" relationships, seeking concrete gratifications in human and not digital sociality: it is up to adults to make them understand that there is a fundamental difference between real and virtual life and that only in real life the personality can enrich itself.
The first step, as Paolo Crepet says, is not demonize the smartphone, it’s necessary to teach children how to use the tool in a virtuous way. Only in this way they will be able to establish a constructive dialogue with teenagers about risks of digital.
Sono Laura Di Masi Napoletana ma casertana di adozione. I miei studi: Liceo classico -Laurea in lingue. Diploma post lauream Traduttore /interprete. Non nasco come docente, infatti per un decennio sono stata la responsabile ufficio estero di una importante azienda di import/export, divento insegnante per vocazione. La scuola e' la mia passione. Vincitrice di concorso a cattedra con max votazione mi abilito x insegnare inglese alla secondaria di I e II grado. Incomincio e continuo tuttora con entusiasmo. Funzione strumentale Area scuola e territorio e Ptof. Membro consiglio d'istituto Tutor Pon di lingua Docente ref. E-twinning. Funzione di docente specialista in metodologia Clil ( in Storia e Scienze). Adoro il mio lavoro, credo sia uno tra i più stimolanti e creativi ma di grande responsabilità... alleviamo menti. Mi piace viaggiare, ascoltare musica e stare in mezzo alla gente.