Session Information
05 SES 11 A, Agency And Context: The Experiences Of Young People In Educational Settings.
Symposium
Contribution
Together with the benefits of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), the need to use them in a safe and healthy way is increasingly acknowledged, especially among adolescents due to the ICT relevance for both schoolwork and relationships (Mishna, Sami & Solomon, 2009). The existence of cyberbullying and other types of abuse resulting sometimes, from a naive use of internet, together with the use of mobile phones with no limits of time or place, point at the need to educate children and adolescents in the positive use of internet. Moreover, the benefits of peer support systems (Cowie & Wallace, 2000) together with adolescents’ high interest in communication technological devices met to design a project of training secondary school students as cyber-mentors of younger children in safe and healthy usage of internet. The project is also an example of service-learning experiences in schools in which students’ voice and action have an influential role in helping others achieve agency and improving school climate (Acero, 2013). A total of 240 secondary (1st - 4th grades) and 80 primary school students (5th-6th grades) are currently participating in this three-phase study. First, students’ skills and use of ICT have been explored to identify existing needs. Afterwards adolescents are being taught about secure and healthy use of internet on computers, tablets and mobile phones. Thirdly, part of them will be trained to become cyber-mentors of their younger peers in their own school and of primary school children. Results will be presented of the project still in process, including students’ evaluation of their experience with this type of peer education.
References
Acero, S. (2013). CIbermanagers. Convives 3, 48-52 Cowie, H. & Wallace, P. (2000). Peer Support in Action. London: Sage. Mishna, F., Saint, M. & Solomon, S. (2009). Ongoing and online: Children and youth’s perceptions of cyber bullying. Children and Youth Services Review, 31, 1222–1228.
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