Stop Cyberbullying: Six Weeks of Courses at a middle school in Genoa, Italy

In March 2025, a 12-hour course for each second-year class at the IC Quarto school in Genoa was concluded, organizwed by the School of Robotics. The course was organized by the school’s cyberbullying liaison teachers and conducted by Scuola di Robotica as part of the Scuola Futura program. The course involved all fourth-grade classes of the IC Quarto Institute, from class A to F, and covered key topics for understanding the causes, forms, and effects of cyberbullying. Around 200 students were involved in the discussions and learning experiences.

Thanks to the sensitivity of the liaison teachers on this issue, and to the collaboration of all teachers who generously “lent” their class hours with great team spirit, all aspects of cyberbullying were discussed with the students.

Among the topics covered were the aspects of  young people’s behaviour on line and on social media : “Who I am, how I see myself, and how I’d like to be.” The difference between online and in-person communication.

The approach from the very beginning was to always bring the discussion back to how online systems actually work — including Generative Artificial Intelligence — and the need to understand these sophisticated technologies in order to use them responsibly, protect oneself from external threats, and avoid using them to harm others.

The goals of the course were:

• Understanding these complex technologies

• Reflecting on how identity-building processes are changing due to the development and spread of new technologies

• Raising awareness about the importance of data self-protection behaviors

• Learning to actively engage with the transformations brought about by the spread of digital technologies and the Internet of Things

How online communication works

This topic was explored with various examples that emphasized the physical side of the Internet and the network.

Sometimes young people have a very abstract perception of digital communication, as if it didn’t take place through programmable machines governed by physical laws.

• The overall network infrastructure

• Google’s data centers

• How the Google search engine works

• The journey of our messages

• The physical network: massive servers, cables, radio systems, or other electromagnetic or optical systems.

Another very important topic: the difference between in-person and digital communication

First of all: there are both benefits and risks

• • The psychology of online communication

  • How our sense of time changes online

  • How our sense of space changes online

  • How we change: our personality on the Internet

  • Digital footprints: everything the Internet knows about us.

Issues of profiling, privacy violations, and other illegal or harmful behaviors:

• • • Our private emotions

    • The “third parties” reading what we write without us knowing (cookies, etc.)

    • Profiling

    • What is done with our messages? Our thoughts, emotions?

    • Web marketing frauds, fake news, and deceptive advertising techniques

    • Cases of covert persuasion

    • Web reputation and data protection.

Known cases of cyberbullying

• • This section was handled with great care to avoid scaring the students. References were made to cases indicated by the Postal Police, including some humorous examples of cyberbullying.Law no. 71 of 2017 on the prevention and fight against cyberbullying. The Parliament passed Law no. 71 of 2017 to prevent and counter the phenomenon of cyberbullying. The law was discussed at length with the students, who also participated in a mock trial simulation, playing roles such as defense attorney and public prosecutor.