VIOLENCE, ALGORITHMS, AND SCHOOL: A QUASI-EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION INTO THE EFFECTIVENESS OF DIGITAL AFFECTIVE LITERACY IN MIDDLE SCHOOL

Abstract

Introduction. Adolescents' identity-building processes and the resulting relational dynamics are currently strongly influenced by the growing pervasiveness of digital environments and their associated algorithmic content profiling mechanisms. The dynamics of the outrage economy, digital narcissism, and the spectacularization of violence on social media permeate an ecosystem in which the lack of emotional literacy produces deviant outcomes, including forms of school aggression mediated by the use of technology. This paper analyzes the importance of digital emotional literacy as a pedagogical tool capable of countering violent phenomena in the school context.

Method. The research method used for this study is a quasi-experimental design, lasting 12 weeks. An experimental group (GS) composed of 48 students and a control group (GC) composed of 47 students were identified, all from a secondary school in the province of Naples (Campania), in the 2025/2026 school year. The instruments used were: a) Bandura's Moral Disengagement Scale (MDS-B; Bandura et al., 1996, Italian adaptation Caprara et al., 2006); b) the Hate Speech Recognition Scale (HSRS; Fasoli et al., 2018); c) a teacher-administered observation sheet of classroom conflict episodes.

Results. The GS highlighted a reduction in scores regarding the value of moral disengagement (Cohen's d = 0.61, p < 0.01) and an increase in the ability to recognize and deconstruct online hate speech (d = 0.54, p < 0.05). Observed conflict episodes decreased by 31% in the GS compared to the GC.

Discussion. The limitations of this study are due to the non-generalizability of the sample, the porous nature of the school context, and the persistent asymmetry between the power of commercial algorithms and the resources of the educational institution. The results only partially support the hypothesis of the effectiveness of the program, which leads to the conclusion that affective digital literacy cannot be conceived as a panacea, but represents a necessary, though unfortunately not yet sufficient, condition for citizenship education in the algorithmic age.