Not just data. The value of children and adolescents in the digital world

One in 2 teenagers has stumbled upon inappropriate social content in the last year, in 68% of cases it is of a violent nature, followed immediately by pornographic (59%) and sexually explicit (59%). These are just some of the data that emerge from the report "Between reality and the Metaverse. Adolescents and parents in the digital world" developed by Telefono Azzurro, which will be presented on Monday 6 February in Milan, on the eve of Safer Internet Day, the world day dedicated to the conscious and responsible use of the Internet.

For years, Università Cattolica has been committed on several fronts to studying the relationship between minors and the various realities of the digital world, which is constantly and rapidly evolving. On the occasion of the event promoted by Telefono Azzurro. Rector Franco Anelli said: "The Metaverse is a stimulating novelty, full of perspectives, suggestions and inevitable unknowns, which we must learn about in order to effectively manage the implications deriving from its spread. Università Cattolica does not want to miss the opportunities that new technologies can offer to make educational processes, especially distance learning processes, more effective. This is why we plan to experiment, with the involvement of teachers and students, with teaching methods that exploit the potential offered by immersive technologies."

A commitment also supported by the president of Telefono Azzurro Ernesto Caffo: "In recent years, there has been more and more talk of the Metaverse, the multiverse and new methods of interaction through rapidly evolving technological platforms. From this it follows that each sector involved must constantly train and update itself on the new frontiers towards which the web is heading. This new technological paradigm imposes a challenge: the identification of greater protections for children and adolescents, placing their value and dignity at the center of the debate. 

The day of 6 February (which can be followed in streaming), promoted in collaboration with the Humane Technology Lab of Università Cattolica, will open on the Milan campus (Cripta dell'Aula Magna in largo Gemelli 1) at 9 a.m. with a debate on the digital world and its economic, social, psychological, ethical, legal and technological dimensions. An interdisciplinary comparison that helps to understand to what extent the digital experience has a quantitative and qualitative impact on the lives of children and adolescents. 

After the institutional greetings of Raffaella Iafrate, Rector's Delegate for Equal Opportunities, and the introduction of Ernesto Caffo, two morning sessions will address the theme "Children and adolescents in the digital world" from the point of view of scenarios and challenges and opportunities. In addition, this session will present the report that Telefono Azzurro has drawn up in collaboration with Doxa Kids, with the aim of bringing to light the various issues addressed together with children and their parents. 

Giuseppe Riva, director of the Humane Technology Lab at Università Cattolica, which in particular studies the metaverse, "a technology that is significantly different from previous ones, will conclude the meeting . If television and social media are persuasive technologies, due to their ability to influence people's behaviors, the metaverse is instead a transformative technology, capable of modifying cognitive mechanisms and what people think is reality. This is why our lab is personally committed to understanding how the metaverse can influence the behavior of young people."

This will be followed in the afternoon by four working groups on specific topics: Data Childhood, Mental Health in the Digital World, Digital Ecosystems, The New Frontiers of Online Safety.