Keeping company: Educating for online friendship

Abstract

The possibility of online Aristotelian virtue friendships via social network sites continues to be raised by philosophers, but as yet this has not been positioned within the realm of children or adolescents, who are known to be amongst the largest users of social media. Governmental agencies across the globe still struggle to define the boundaries of online usage for children, often depending on school-based curricula highlighting 'safe-guarding' online or some form of character education. This, however, often leaves the philosophical thinking behind virtual relationships as incompletely addressed in educational theory, policy and practice, despite there being some very real difficulties for children. Utilising the insights of Aristotle on friendship, I offer a view that may hold potential for a philosophically based policy. I outline three different ways this philosophical literature could have implications for education and indicate the types of policy that each might entail. I will contend that there are three distinct stakeholders here that can be identified as having a significant role to play in what we should do: the schools themselves, educational researchers and policy writers. Finally, I suggest ways in which research, policy and practice might link together.

Young people's online communication and its association with mental well‐being: results from the 2019 student health and well‐being survey

“…Given the ease in which people are able to build an online network of virtual friends, schools (Dubicka, Martin, & Firth, 2019), family and clinical settings (Kaess, 2020) are potential contexts for identifying more potentially harmful forms of online interaction. However, adults in these contexts will likely need further advice to distinguish between adaptive and maladaptive uses of online communication in practice (Healy, 2021). Given the prevalence of online communication, many young people will know more about social media than their teachers and parents, thus there is a need to address safety issues both with children and those that care for them, and to involve young people in the development of interventions to support healthy online communication.…”

Identidad y relaciones de alteridad entre adolescentes: Disquisiciones acerca de su construcción en el escenario digital

“…Así, se olvida que "las redes sociales ofrecen, en efecto, una nueva forma de experimentar la vida cotidiana y la búsqueda de uno mismo" (Reyero et al, 2021, p. 77). En las OSN se pueden evidenciar acciones que corresponden a las características de la amistad, pues hechos como aceptar las solicitudes de los amigos, permitir que accedan a las publicaciones y establecer diálogos a través de los comentarios son oportunidades para iniciar la interacción con otros y hasta llegar a compartir tiempo mediante diferentes actividades online (Healy, 2021).…”

“…Si bien es cierto que la teoría de la alteridad de Lévinas deja claro que un encuentro ético con el otro implica que seamos responsables de responder de manera inmediata ante su dolor o sufrimiento y que esto solo es posible por la condición de proximidad, no se puede ignorar que en el espacio de las OSN los adolescentes comparten sus formas de ser y de estar en el mundo desde la diversidad y la pluralidad. Por ejemplo, un adolescente angustiado por su identidad de género puede encontrar en las redes sociales a otros que comparten las mismas experiencias (Healy, 2021) y que le brinden la hospitalidad que busca constantemente en los espacios en los cuales interactúa.…”