religions
Article
Religious Education as a Platform for Pupils’ Social
Development and Prevention of Internet Addiction: The Case
of Slovakia
Miriam Niklová *
and Dana Hanesová *
Department of Pedagogy and Andragogy, Matej Bel University, 97411 Banská Bystrica, Slovakia
* Correspondence: miriam.niklova@umb.sk (M.N.); dana.hanesova@umb.sk (D.H.)
Abstract: The authors present changes in the content and teaching methods of religious education (RE)
in the third decade of the 21st century, as proposed by the current curricular reform of compulsory
education in Slovakia. First, they analyse the reform documents in terms of social competence
development as one of the RE content requirements. Second, they seek a teaching methodology that
applies a balanced approach to the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) while
protecting RE pupils and their building of healthy human relationships from the potential threat
of digital addiction. The authors based their teaching ideas on the findings from their research. To
explore the relationship between addictive Internet behaviour and social intelligence, they used a
questionnaire including the Internet Addiction Test and the TSIS Scale. The Mann–Whitney U test
was used for statistical analysis. Data on 386 adolescent respondents revealed a statistically significant
difference between males and females in social awareness, with males performing significantly better.
A weak positive relationship (ρ = 0.240) was identified between social awareness and addictive
Internet behaviour. In the discussion, the authors suggest teaching methods for developing social
competence via RE without resisting the opportunities provided by ICT, while also avoiding an
increase in the risk of online social media addiction. They suggest that even denominational RE
should prioritize cultivating healthy relationships not only with God but also relationships with other
people, the outside world, and oneself.
Citation: Niklová, Miriam, and Dana
Keywords: religious education; social intelligence; internet; addiction; prevention; social media
Hanesová. 2024. Religious Education
as a Platform for Pupils’ Social
Development and Prevention of
Internet Addiction: The Case of
1. Introduction
Slovakia. Religions 15: 585. https://
So far, one of the predominant characteristics of the 21st century has been the unprecedented development of information and communication technologies and artificial
intelligence (AI), which, on the one hand, increase the quality of life of society in many
ways, but, on the other hand, might reduce social, moral and spiritual awareness of humanity. The ability of human beings to communicate naturally with other people, as well
as the ability to distinguish between virtual reality and real life have decreased (Dulovics
et al. 2021). The activities made possible by modern technology crowd out the time needed
for daily reflection and meditation on the meaning of life and ultimate issues. The moral,
ethical, and value orientation of society is subservient to the material–economic orientation,
and values and ethical norms have lost their primary importance. Due to digitisation,
a significant increase in so-called ‘screen time’ among children and young people has
occurred in the last two decades. Young people undoubtedly spend a significant part of
their free time in cyberspace, where a large part of their social life occurs (Niklová 2022).
This situation has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic that hit Europe and the
rest of the world in 2020. As a result, various processes related to the lives of the younger
generation have become even more intensively digitised. This has had an even more
pronounced impact on the increasing amount of time spent online by several population
groups. It is now a well-known fact that excessive Internet use, in the presence of other risk
doi.org/10.3390/rel15050585
Academic Editor: Hans Zollner
Received: 5 April 2024
Revised: 2 May 2024
Accepted: 8 May 2024
Published: 9 May 2024
Copyright: © 2024 by the authors.
Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
This article is an open access article
distributed under the terms and
conditions of the Creative Commons
Attribution (CC BY) license (https://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/
4.0/).
Religions 2024, 15, 585. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15050585
https://www.mdpi.com/journal/religions
Religions 2024, 15, 585
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factors, is associated with specific adverse consequences for an individual’s life. In some
cases, this can even lead to Internet addiction (Young 2004; Nábělek 2007; Pontes et al. 2015;
Ambrožová 2020), also referred to as excessive Internet use (EIU) or pathological use of the
Internet (Niemz et al. 2005); pathological use of technology (Sim et al. 2012); problematic
Internet use (Davis et al. 2002); excessive Internet use (Hupková 2018; Izrael et al. 2020); or
nehtomania (Bělík and Kraus 2018).
Daily use of Internet, in many cases with features of addictive behaviour, makes
adolescents more vulnerable to various risks that threaten the healthy social development
of adolescents. Social media dependency moderately impairs communication abilities
(Polat 2023). Excessive use of social networking sites can be a predictor of a whole range of
problems arising from it, such as cyberbullying, harassment or sexual threats, and their
impact on young people’s mental health should also be considered. Excessive Internet
use can result from repeated rewards in the online environment. The individual develops
a ‘conditioned reflex’ and a natural behavioural expression and may even take on the
attributes of an online social media addiction. In an individual at risk of Internet addiction,
the following symptoms can be observed: loss of control over time, lying about daily
activities and time of Internet access, restlessness, lack of focus, nervousness, irritability,
personality changes—“virtual” identity—experiencing bipolar emotions (both happiness
and guilt), despair, and fixation and obsession with Internet use (Lichner and Šlosár 2017).
Manifestations of Internet addiction are dishonesty, defensive behaviour, agitation, ignoring
responsibilities, inability to prioritise, isolation, moodiness, depression, guilt, and anxiety
(Murphy and Lindeman 2023).
The lives of the world’s contemporary population have undergone significant transformations driven by the aforementioned rapid technological advancements, but also by
globalization, socio-economic shifts, and environmental challenges such as climate change.
In this context, it is possible to characterize the past two decades as a period of profound
paradigm shifts in society (Kosová et al. 2019), which are likely to result in both positive
and negative outcomes for the quality of young people’s lives, their education and their
careers. One of the most essential solutions that could help mitigate the negative impacts
of these phenomena on the youngest generation is for education of children and youth
to flexibly respond to the emerging situation. Given children’s developmental cognitive
and moral immaturity, decisions on the intensity of ICT use should be influenced by their
family members and teachers, including religious education (RE) teachers.
There are plenty of challenges that RE teachers are facing now, in the third decade
of the 21st century, for example: How should RE, as a subject in primary schools or
secondary schools, effectively fulfil its role in promoting the development of profound
humaneness—specifically of social skills—within the contemporary milieu dominated
by pervasive technological advancements and the omnipresence of social media? What
social information, social skills and social competences within RE are appropriate to convey
and train in this context? In what way can these be communicated to the present young
generation so that they not only develop their relationship to religion, to God and to
themselves, and therefore their spirituality, but also that their empathetic, assertive and
cooperative relationships to their fellow humans and the world around them are developed
at the same time? How can RE also fulfil the preventative role of school education against
the risk of online addictive behaviour that young people face from ubiquitous media?
While there are many perspectives to consider in addressing these questions, one possible approach is to observe a particular transformation process in education, for example,
within a single country, where efforts to answer these questions are underway. The aim of
this study is to present a case study of the Slovak Republic and its current education reform
processes, which necessitate significant changes for RE to remain an integral part of the
Slovak education system. The first part will provide a brief overview of the reform changes
related to the development of pupils’ social (and emotional) competences and social skills
being (a) one of the nine cross-cutting, cross-curricular literacies across the school system
as well as (b) one of the main aims of RE and EE (ethics education), the only two, mutually
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alternative formative subjects. This will enable further consideration of procedural changes
and adjustments in teaching approaches, particularly having doubts about a unilaterally
positive influence of online technologies on building healthy relationships, which will be
explored in the subsequent section of the study.
Therefore, in the second section, we will focus on searching for ways to teach RE
in this age of ICT and AI, even in RE. It draws on the authors’ partial research into the
correlation between social intelligence and Internet addiction. Although the research was
limited by sample selection, it revealed a statistically significant relationship between social
awareness and the increased risk of Internet addiction. This finding prompts reflection on
various teaching approaches in RE to establish a reasonable balance between ICT use and
prevention against its overuse.
2. Emphasis on Social Development within the Curricular Reform
In the Slovak Republic, as one of the post-communist countries, an experimental phase
is currently underway to validate the first truly radical educational reform since the Slovak
Republic’s inception in 1993. It is a curriculum reform of the content and objectives of
education, called ‘Education for the 21st Century’. This reform addresses the challenges of
the contemporary globalized and digitized world described above. The aim of primary and
lower secondary education is for pupils aged 5–15 to acquire comprehensive and functional
literacy in line with the demands of society, and to be able to apply it in everyday personal
and social life, and in fulfilling their personal, educational, cultural, and social needs. They
should build a foundational cultural framework for their personality that will guide and
accompany them in planning and achieving individual life goals, as well as participating in
broader societal, cultural, and global activities. They should gain a real awareness of their
own personal potential for further educational growth and holistic development (MŠVVŠ).
Current education reform in Slovakia can be described as a shift from the traditional
education model of memorizing facts to learning to think and acquiring social competence
and essential (predominantly social) life skills. It aims to prepare young people for future
scenarios that can only be predicted now, and enabling the prevention of psychopathological phenomena that are already manifesting in the deterioration of mental health and
well-being among young people. ‘Education for the 21st century’ intends to widen opportunities for learning, to embrace every individual (inclusive education), to take responsibility
for the sustainability of life on Earth (green school), and to promote the effective and safe
use of digital technologies in upbringing and education (digital school). The main challenge
of this reform is to teach children to think independently, and act responsibly based on
values, knowledge, and data (MŠVVŠ 2023). Social and emotional competence has become
one from the set of nine cross-cutting literacies/competences of the newly reformed State
Educational Programme (MŠVVŠ 2023). Their set further includes metacognition, character,
reading and visual literacy, as well as civic, digital, financial and environmental literacies
or competences.
Already since the 1990s, Kosová, a Slovak expert in the philosophy of education, has
emphasized the significant role of a personality-oriented educational science that accentuates the individual’s personal and social development—the development of personal and
social competences (2005). Its focus is on the process of personalization and the process
of socialization of a child. The goal of these processes is to nurture development of a
unique, fully developed, self-realizing personality and, at the same time, of a competent
member of society. In current education, it is important to adapt the educational goals to
this overall educational paradigma leading to the social development of each child and
young person. Personal and social competence is among the eight key competences relevant to life, as outlined in the European Union document ‘Key Competences for Lifelong
Learning’ (EC 2019). The reason is that the European Commission considers it essential to
empower all individuals to thrive and contribute to diverse societies, as well as to address
any potential conflicts.
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By social development, we mean the development of social competence, individual
social skills and social intelligence of an individual. So, what exactly is social competence?
The concept of social competence in its original understanding placed emphasis primarily
on a person’s ability to effectively cope with the demands and rules of the social environment. Currently, the concept of social competence has exceeded its original framework and
acquires a transdisciplinary character, stemming from the system of sciences (Janoušková
and Vaňová 2012).
In order to measure the level of social competence and social skill development, it
is important to introduce one more term: social intelligence. Social intelligence can be
understood as foundational in relation to social competence in a more general sense. For
example, Albrecht (2009) defines it as as the ability to get along well with others while
winning their cooperation—the capacity to foster positive relationships while also securing
collaboration from others. Social intelligence encompasses an amalgamation of sensitivity
towards the needs and interests of others, often likened to a ‘social radar,’ a disposition
of generosity and thoughtfulness, and a repertoire of practical skills essential for effective
engagement with individuals across diverse environments.
Social intelligence was first defined by Thorndike as the ability to understand and manage men and women, boys and girls—to act reasonably in human relationships (Thorndike
1920). Social intelligence is now characterized as a person’s ability to understand the
feelings, thoughts and behaviour of other people and oneself and to behave appropriately
based on this understanding (Orosová et al. 2004). This definition includes two aspects:
cognitive (the ability to understand others) and behavioural (the ability to interact effectively with others). According to Guilford, behavioural content is the awareness of what
another person feels or thinks and what they intend to do through clues we obtain from
their behaviour; it is, therefore the understanding of non-verbal information (Jurčová 2000).
If a person’s level of these abilities is low, it can cause problems in social relationships and
can be a predictor of the development of risky online behaviour.
Unlike social intelligence, social competence inherently carries a positive connotation.
Social competence is multidimensional, composed of various pieces of social information,
knowledge, skills, beliefs, attitudes, other partial competencies, etc. It is assumed that
there is an ability to effectively manage these resources, which are linked to dimensions of
human behaviour. Social competence can be acquired by developing its partial components,
such as social characteristics, social motivation, social skills, knowledge, and interpersonal
experience. Social competence encompasses behaviour and is also manifested in behaviour
(Veteška and Tureckiová 2008). Socially competent behaviour is perceived as socially desirable and positive, oriented towards assertive, prosocial, and cooperative behaviour. It
can be developed via training and intervention programs (Výrost and Baumgartner 2006).
Developing socially competent behaviour in an individual requires improvement in selfreflection, reflection on social processes, reflection on subjective meaning, interpretations
of behaviour and training in social skills. This sets social competence and socially competent behaviour apart from social intelligence and socially intelligent behaviour, which
may also exhibit manipulative and antisocial characteristics. This delineation respects
the psychometric and personality approach to studying and training social intelligence
(Orosová et al. 2004).
Social skills are part of social competence; they represent more specific prerequisites.
Generally, skill is the ability to perform processes and utilize existing knowledge to achieve
results. Social skills can be defined as the abilities of adaptive, learned and socially acceptable behaviour, which enable one to cope effectively with the demands and challenges of
everyday life (Gresham et al. 2011; Miovský et al. 2012). Social skills include, in particular, the ability to cope with social pressure, healthy self-assertive skills, empathy skills,
communication skills, constructive conflict resolution skills, the ability to build healthy
social relationships, media literacy, the ability to self-reflect and to know others (social perception), and coping with stressful and conflict situations (coping strategies). Social skills
are essential for developing positive relationships, participation with peers, acceptance of
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social norms and moral rules, and the responsibility to help others (Nešpor 2003). Social
skills are rooted in relationships and are developed through interpersonal interactions
(DiTommaso et al. 2003). Those who struggle with social skills offline bring difficulties to
the online sphere (Weidman and Levinson 2015).
The basic types of social skills are skills that facilitate communication. They are related
to the ability to effectively identify and manage feelings, as well as to negotiate. Developed
social skills provide strategies for solving social problems. These represent the so-called
alternatives to aggression as they enable proper conflict management and avoidance, and
the ability to solve problems in interpersonal relationships without the use of aggression or
violence. Stress management skills are also essential for successful conflict resolution in the
context of stress and tension.
Social competence and social skills are considered to be one of the most critical aspects
of the school environment (Lörinczová and Tomšik 2016). Let us give several examples
of social skills that need to be developed in school, such as collaboration, empathy or
assertiveness. In schools, students acquire the foundations for effective cooperation and
communication in a group and acquire social and personal competences as part of their
personal and social development. The ability to cooperate represents a general goal of education. In a school setting, cooperation can be seen at various levels—from routine student
involvement in an activity to purposeful cooperative learning with a cooperative structure.
Evidence of the fulfilment of such a structure is when students can achieve their goal and
the other students with whom they are connected in the task situation can also achieve their
goal (Kasíková 1997). Collaboration is when a student contributes ideas, opinions, and
knowledge actively or on request; expresses constructively and politely when expressing
disagreement; listens to other members, does not interrupt them; allows others to express
their opinions; helps others in forming an idea; participates in the accomplishment of the
group’s subtask; takes a leadership role based on one’s abilities; takes responsibility for
their own learning and reflection; evaluates their own contribution to the group; and can
evaluate the process of the activity. It is also when groups evaluate whole-group activity
and group members evaluate each other.
Of all the social skills developed in the school environment, it is essential to emphasize
the development of empathy. Empathy is an effective response transmitted after a conscious
understanding of the experience of a situation and the feelings or perceptions that the
other receives (Decety et al. 2016). Empathy can be defined as understanding the other
person (Hetemi et al. 2023, p. 2). It is the ability to “listen to others without judging,
understand them, and accept them. The extra-verbal component includes facial expressions,
attitude, body posture, and gestures. The verbal component is in the content of what is
said, in the colour and volume of speech, in the silence gaps.” (Izrael et al. 2020, p. 12).
Contact in the physical environment is crucial for developing empathy (Winczewski et al.
2016). Empathy allows people to form and maintain close relationships with people to
perceive and interpret themselves externally. It significantly influences emotion regulation
and attention and is a factor of resilience. Empathy is part of active listening, a set of
skills that enable us to communicate so that what is heard is understood. It eliminates
misunderstanding, confusion and conflict (Švehláková 2020). The development of empathy
needs to be addressed in the younger school years; as Eisenberg and Mussen (1989) state,
childhood and adolescence can be critical times for cultivating mindfulness, empathy, and
kindness. Empathy demonstrated among peers (Jolliffe and Farrington 2006) is considered
one of the main areas of intervention programmes to prevent bullying.
A socially competent person is not only empathetic, but also assertive. Assertiveness
is emotional freedom: the ability to get along well with people, to feel a sense of inner
well-being and confidence, while at the same time be able to make decisions for oneself and
to be held accountable for decisions, to be able to express a point of view and an opinion,
to assert demands, to criticise constructively, to accept criticism while not humiliating the
other person, and also to be able to compromise and be able to acknowledge one’s fault
(Stanislav and Martinove 2020). Assertive communication has an impact on reducing the
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incidence of cyberbullying, as pointed out by Kusumawaty et al. (2021). As a type of
learning, it is built on the cooperative solving of more complex tasks. The cooperation
mechanism is learned at every developmental stage of life through interpersonal contact
and reflection (Wagner 1999). Cooperation among students is a significant preventive factor
against the emergence of bullying and other forms of inappropriate behaviour by students.
Also, adequate social support can reduce the incidence of problematic Internet use—a
negative association between Internet addiction and social support has been found (Taş
2019; Cui and Chi 2021).
At the end of this section on social skills, it is necessary to mention another term
that is increasingly appearing in school curricula—soft skills (or its synonyms: life skills,
transversal skills, transferable skills, 21st century skills, etc.). Currently, there is increasing
emphasis on these skills, which represent personal and social attributes or abilities that
support achieving the best personal performance, and the best behaviour. They encompass
a wide range of social abilities and traits related to human social intelligence (such as
honesty, friendliness, perseverance, patience, etc.) (Hupková 2011). Life skills develop
in three areas: (a) personality, self-knowledge and getting to know others; (b) social
communication; and (c) conflict and coping skills.
Teaching and learning aimed at the social development of pupils occur through (a)
domain-specific competences, developed in individual courses (such a geography, biology,
arts, etc.), as well as (b) implementing cross-cutting literacies or competences in each of
these courses. In the Slovak State Educational Programme, religious education (RE) as
well as ethics education (EE), its alternative subject, belong to the educational domain area
called ‘Human and Society’ (MŠVVŠ 2023).
3. Reform Requirements for Changes in the Goals and Content of RE
The current Slovak curricular reform expects changes in the content and teaching approach within RE and EE, the only two explicitly formative subjects in the State Educational
Programme, shaping the moral and social dimension of a child’s personality. What is the
current state of fulfilling this task in RE in Slovakia? To evaluate this, several pieces of data
from the recent period are to be presented.
In the Slovak Republic, as in most post-communist countries (with Estonia being an exception), there has been a longstanding tradition of confessional RE in schools, particularly
prominent in the first half of the 20th century before it was taken over and significantly
restricted by the communist regime. The model of mandatory selection from two alternating subjects has been in place since its inception. Parents of younger children in primary
schools or students in secondary schools must choose between participating either in religious education (RE) or ethics education (EE). Religious education remained confessionally
oriented even after the establishment of the democratic Slovak Republic in 1993. In 2004, all
registered churches in Slovakia gained the right to teach RE if they prepared and accredited
their educational RE curriculum. Currently, six Christian denominations in Slovakia have
gained this accreditation: the Roman Catholic Church, the Greek Catholic Church, the
Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession, the Reformed Christian Church, the Orthodox Church, and the Church of the Brethren in Slovakia. One strong reason for adhering
to the confessional model of RE in Slovakia is the fact that the majority of the population
has long identified with the Christian faith. In the 2021 population census, inhabitants
of Slovakia traditionally declared affiliation with only two religions: 69.68% identified
with the Christian faith, with 55.8% specifying Roman Catholicism, and 0.04% with the
Jewish religion. However, these numbers are gradually declining; for example, in 2011,
62% identified with the Roman Catholic faith. The second-largest group consists of citizens
with no religious affiliation (23.8%) and those unspecified (6.5%). The Evangelical Church
of the Augsburg Confession in Slovakia was mentioned by 5% of citizens, and the Greek
Catholic faith by 4% (Ivančíková et al. 2023).
In general, the objectives of any school education are derived from the various relationships a person realizes and experiences in his or her life—the relationship to oneself,
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to other people, and to the surrounding world. As the school subject of RE focuses on
cultivating a relationship with Transcendence or with God and on the spiritual sensitization
of students based on this relationship, it is often referred to as a subject sui generis. This
primary distinctive goal of RE is clearly reflected in several confessionally oriented RE
curricula in Slovakia. However, it is striking when, alongside it, the second important dimension of this subject often fades away, and that is the relationship with people. After all,
this is clearly emphasized in the biblical reference of Jesus’ statement of the most important
Christian commandments: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with
all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a
second is like it: You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” (Gospel of Matthew 22: 37–40).
The task of RE, whether it follows a confessional or non-confessional RE model, is to
develop the entire personality of the RE student, encompassing all of their relationships
developed across the entire school curriculum. This means fostering the RE student’s
relationships with God, with themselves, with others, and with the world. Properly
conceived, curricular changes in RE should reflect all these relationships and the need for
their cognitive, transformative, and evaluative characteristics.
RE should develop students’ identity and belonging, preparing them for adult life,
careers and lifelong learning, including the role of a citizen in a pluralistic society and global
community. RE has the potential to enable students to develop respect and sensitivity
towards others, especially those whose beliefs are different. RE can thus actively promote
not only spiritual but also moral and social values in the students’ lives. It can facilitate
students in reflecting on their own uniqueness as human beings, communicating their
feelings to others, and appreciating the importance of forming positive relationships within
the circumstances of everyday life.
While we approach the dichotomy between the confessional and non-confessional RE
models critically, similarly to Hull, it is also generally the case that the non-confessional
model is aimed predominantly at learning about religion(s) and learning from them (Hull
2002). As demonstrated in comparative research on the objectives of RE across all European Union countries 20 years ago (Hanesová 2006), social relationships and the social
development role of RE were explicitly emphasized and receive a greater share of attention
within the non-confessional RE model. As an example, the highest goals of RE in Estonia
and Sweden included the achievement of students to acquire the ability to live according to
the principles of humanity in their relations with other people.
Under the influence of societal tensions, national extremism, and growing religious
intolerance, often fuelled by social media, there have been signs of a shift in RE emphasis
in Slovakia, as well as in some other countries with a traditional ‘into religion’ RE model
(Hull 2002). In Slovakia, the long-term dominant aim of this model used to be to introduce
individuals to one of the officially registered confessions. Curricular emphasis on human
relationships within RE primarily concerned relationships within the church. Thirty years
ago, Muchová, a Czech religious pedagogue, expressed it concisely: “Religious education
represents such education that introduces a person to a relationship with God, points out a
specific meaning of life, presents the highest moral values, and creates a spiritual community with others, similarly minded people—primarily referring to the church (Muchová
1994, p. 19). In the first decade of the 21st century, more than half (17) EU countries had a
confessional model of RE, with objectives understood more narrowly, primarily focusing
on the relationship with God and their own church.
In his essays, Hull described in detail the risks associated with the application of
confessionalism in the strict catechetical sense within RE when implemented in the environment of state schools (e.g., Hull 2002). Schreiner insisted that RE should develop
general religious competence in young people, leading them towards mutual interest and
understanding of differences in European pluralistic society (Schreiner 2001, p. 253). RE
should develop students’ sensitivity towards religion and the religious dimension in life.
It should lead students towards answers to questions of meaning from the perspective
of worldview and religion. Furthermore, it should lead students to clarify and justify
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their own values and encourage them to explore their own decisions based on values
(Schreiner 2003).
Over the past decade, there has also been a shift towards implementing a broader
scope of relationships and a higher level of development in social intelligence, social
competencies, and social skills. Some contemporary religious pedagogues predict that
although the current spectrum of RE models, whether teaching into religion or teaching
about religion(s) and learning from religions, will likely persist in society for a long time,
there will be an increasing overlap of their objectives in a certain sense. According to
Willaime, “a growing integration of religious education, be it confessional or not, with the
overall educational goals of the school and its specific mission. In most countries, religious
instruction is required to contribute to the education of students towards responsible
citizenship in pluralist society” (Willaime 2013, p. 62).
Reimer, one of the active participants in the current curriculum reform in Slovakia in
the field of RE, opens up the taboo topic of this shift by requiring society not to view school
RE from the perspective of transmitting faith but rather from the logic of the educational
process in schools (the interview with Reimer in Zlatohlávková 2022). Religion is part
of our culture and has its relevance in school education. For example, understanding
and deepening how it has permeated and shaped our culture requires RE. The aim of RE
should therefore be to support and develop students’ religiosity as one of the personality
dimensions of every human being. It includes not only conveying religious knowledge to
the students, but also sharing understanding of one’s own religiosity and the religiosity of
others in its complexity. According to Reimer, this does not mean the abolition of confessional RE, but rather creating space for moments of cooperation and mutual penetration.
The future of RE lies in encouraging more mutual learning among students with different
religious backgrounds and even among non-believing students during classes, because the
religious dimension belongs to the holistic development of every human being.
The current curricular reform has legislatively anchored the necessity of shifting the
teaching of RE towards the social development of students. All accredited versions of
confessional RE in Slovakia, representing a subject within the educational area ‘Human
and Society’, should explicitly emphasize the awareness, acceptance, and development
of one’s own identity in relation to other people and all living beings on our planet. An
integral part of these processes is the cultivation of character, moral (ethical), and spiritual
qualities of students, and their religious awareness (MŠVVŠ 2023). A 15-year-old student
should be able to identify moral goodness in the actions of others and in their own actions,
appreciate the good qualities and abilities of others, accept that qualities and abilities can
be developed, identify the causes and consequences of human behaviour, and assess their
ethical dimension. The new State Educational Program in Slovakia requires students to
acquire knowledge about other religions in Slovakia within RE, with attention paid to the
development of their social awareness—i.e., understanding the importance of peaceful and
respectful coexistence among people with different faiths and those without belief (MŠVVŠ
2023). The RE teacher should cultivate respect for others regardless of cultural, religious
affiliation, origin, worldview, age, gender, or self-perception. They should guide students
to seek common ethical intersections in interreligious dialogue, understand the dangers
of societal polarization, cultivate interreligious dialogue and dialogue between believers
and non-believers, and develop the ability to discuss current issues (sects, cults, abuse, and
religious and anti-religious intolerance).
In addition to such explicitly defined objectives in RE, and possibly also in EE, the
RE teachers have the duty to implement in their RE subject also the development of crosscutting social skills and attitudes, such as courage, resilience, and justice. Thus, a young
person at the age of 15, also thanks to RE, should be able to cooperate with others, act in
a charitable way, contribute to the community in a positive way, act justly, honourably,
and conscientiously, respect the rules of social coexistence, justify the unethical nature of
fraudulent behaviour, act according to the principles of fair play and equality, and maintain
personal integrity in action even when nobody is watching (MŠVVŠ 2023).
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4. Research Evidence of the Relationship between Social Intelligence, Internet
Addiction and the Role of Religiosity
In the introduction of this study (Section 1), we pointed out the risks of the increasingly
digitized society, which pose a huge challenge for all teachers on a global scale. Recognizing
this and other global challenges of contemporary society, pressures arose within the forum
of educational theorists and practitioners in Slovakia to reconsider and reform the entire
system of education within compulsory school attendance (5–15-year-old children). In
Sections 2 and 3, we characterized the current state and demands for the transformation of
the objectives and content of RE in the context of broader curricular reform in Slovakia. So
far, we pointed out what to teach in the current third decade of the 21st century, even in
confessionally oriented RE. The response to both of these pressures should also be reflected
in the teaching processes within RE. The question is how to do it.
As we have observed over three decades of teaching RE in Slovakia, RE is a subject
sui generis not only in terms of its unique content but also in the realm of methodology.
How can RE teachers convey to students an experiential learning based on principles of
scientificity, illustrativeness, experientiality, and relevance in light of the latest didactic tools
and available resources? How can RE teachers prevent repeated feedback from multiple RE
students in Slovak schools indicating that RE is the least demanding and simultaneously
the most boring subject? In our opinion, RE must also be embedded in the current context
of ICT advancements. However, it is also necessary for it to be inherently unique in
terms of preventing the pandemic of digital dementia, which reliance on Internet-based
teaching and social networks can trigger. So how can social competences of RE students be
developed in the context of risks from excessive use of ICT and especially social media? Are
there any studies that would set certain reference points for the development of teaching
methodology in reforming RE?
In seeking answers to these questions, we decided to incorporate the modest findings
from our original questionnaire research conducted among a group of adolescents in one of
the regions of Banská Bystrica, regardless of whether they had previously completed RE or
EE. Although the questionnaires sent out to adolescents in the Banská Bystrica region did
not include any additional personal questions to preserve anonymity, according to statistics
from the Ministry of Education, two-thirds of all pupils currently enrol in RE, and one-third
in ethics education (EE) (Zlatohlávková 2022), up from an even higher ratio of 3:1 in the
previous decade (Fronc 2017). From this perspective, it can be assumed that at least 2/3
to maximum 3/4 of our respondents were RE graduates. As far as EE is concerned, here
too we can speak of respondents who had received education in many ways overlapping
and even exceeding the social dimension of RE. This follows from the nature of the original
EE curriculum, created by L. Lencz for Slovak state schools as an alternative to RE in 1994,
based on the concept of prosociality by the Spanish psychologist Roche Olivar—the father
of the concept of ethics education in Spain after the fall of the Franco dictatorship. His
concept of prosociality was inspired by the Charism of the Christian Unity of Chiara Lubich
(Olivar 1992; Olivar and Gil 2019).
4.1. Research of the Relationship between Social Intelligence and Internet Addiction
In 2022, we conducted wider empirical research on university students as representatives of Generation Z. One of the goals of this research project, called ‘Prevention of risky
behaviour online’, was to verify the existence of a relationship between addictive behaviour
and the social intelligence of young adults who had just passed through adolescence—a
critical period in terms of an individual’s lifelong development. Adolescence plays a significant role in the formation of one’s own identity, which is also accomplished through
interpersonal interaction (Molčanová et al. 2007).
Two frameworks seemed to be available for measuring components of social intelligence. Kosmitzki and John (1993) isolated the following components of social intelligence:
perception of other people’s mental states and moods, general ability to get along with
other people, knowledge of social rules, insight and sensitivity to complex social situations,
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use of social techniques to manipulate others, adopting others’ perspectives, and social
adaptation. Silvera et al. (2001) compiled a list of relevant terms and used factor analysis to
derive three components of social intelligence, namely, social information processing, social
skills, and social awareness. The first two correspond to the cognitive and the third to the
behavioural aspect of social intelligence. Kosmitzki & John constructed the TSIS scale to
ascertain the above attributes.
We also wanted to find out whether there is a difference between men and women
in the level of social intelligence as well as addictive behaviour, so we constructed the
following research questions:
Question 1: Is there a correlation between addictive behaviour in terms of gender of
the respondents?
Question 2: Is there a correlation between addictive behaviour and social intelligence
of the respondents?
4.1.1. Research Sample
The research sample consisted of 386 adolescent students (N = 386) from Banská
Bystrica, Slovakia. Among them, 264 (68%) were female, while 122 (32%) were male.
The respondents’ ages ranged from 18 to 22 years, with the largest representation found
in the 20-year-old age group (153 respondents), followed by the 21-year-old age group
(82 respondents).
4.1.2. Research Instruments
The research questionnaire was administered electronically via Google Forms. It
consisted of two scales supplemented with demographic items.
The Internet Addiction Test (IAT), put forward by K. K. S. Young, measures personality
characteristics and behaviour associated with compulsive Internet use, escapism and
addiction through 20 statement items. Overall, it measures mild, moderate, or severe
Internet addiction. The respondent answers the statements on a five-point Likert scale,
with 0 = not at all and 5 = always, reflecting the extent to which the statements indicate
the respondent’s specific behaviour—his or her daily routine, social life, sleep patterns, or
feelings experienced. The scale was developed based on the fourth edition of the Diagnostic
and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) criteria for pathological gambling
and on a modification of a previous questionnaire by K. S. Young (1996).
The TSIS (The Tromsø Social Intelligence Scale developed by Silvera, Martinussen,
and Dahl in 2001 contains 21 statements related to social behaviour and situations in which
the subjects rate their behaviour and reactions on a 7-point Likert scale (1 describes me very
poorly; 7 describes me very well). The test provides raw scores of social intelligence in three
subscales: the Social Information Processing subscale SP (α = 0.79), the Social Skills subscale
SS (α = 0.85) and the Social Awareness subscale SA (α = 0.72). The SP and SA subscales
represent the cognitive aspect of SI, and the SS subscale represents the behavioural aspect.
The reliability of the individual scales used in the research regarding their internal
consistency was measured at the level of individual questionnaire items using Cronbach’s
alpha coefficient. The value of the quantified coefficients indicates sufficient internal
consistency of all the questionnaires.
We used the Mann–Whitney U-test as a statistical test in the comparative analysis.
We used Spearman’s correlation coefficient as a statistical test in the correlation analysis.
Before analysing the data using our chosen statistical tests, we verified that our variables
met the condition of normal distribution of the data. Based on the results that verified the
normal distribution of the data, we then chose parametric or non-parametric tests.
4.1.3. Research Results
In Table 1, we present the results of the Mann–Whitney U test for comparing males
and females in our research group in the context of addictive behaviour.
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Table 1. Difference between males and females concerning addictive behaviour (N = 386).
Mann–Whitney U
Male
Female
IAT
n
AM
Mdn
Z
p
122
264
38.50
37.27
39
35
−1.232
0.218
Legend: n—number; AM—arithmetic mean; Mdn—median; Z-value of Mann–Whitney U-test; p-statistical
significance.
Table 1 shows that, in our research group, there was no statistically significant difference in the prevalence of addictive behaviour between males and females. In Table 2, we
compare the social intelligence of our male and female respondents.
Table 2. Difference between males and females in TSIS (N = 386).
Mann–Whitney U
SP
SS
SA
TSIS score total
n
AM
Mdn
Male
122
32.30
33
Female
264
33.15
34
Male
122
30.10
30
Female
264
30.06
30
Male
122
25.45
25
Female
264
22.48
22
Male
122
87.66
88
Female
264
85.47
85
Z
p
−1.181
0.237
−0.405
0.686
−4.161
0.001
−1.928
0.054
Legend: n—number; AM—arithmetic mean; Mdn—median; Z-value of Mann–Whitney U-test; p-statistical
significance.
Table 2 shows a statistically significant difference between males and females on the
level of social intelligence by gender for the total score, with males coming out significantly better.
The following Tables 3–5 present the results of the correlations between addictive
behaviour and all three subscales of social intelligence.
Table 3. Relationship between addictive behaviour and TSIS—SP (N = 386).
TSIS—Social Information Processing
N = 386
ρ
IAT score
−0.067
p
*
−0.067
Legend: * p ≤ 0.05; rho–Spearman correlation coefficient; p-statistical significance; N-number.
Table 4. Relationship between addictive behaviour and TSIS—SS (N = 386).
TSIS—Social Skills
N = 386
ρ
IAT score
0.019
p
**
Legend: ** p ≤ 0.01; rho–Spearman correlation coefficient; p-statistical significance; N-number.
0.717
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Table 5. Relationship between addictive behaviour and TSIS—SA (N = 386).
TSIS—Social Awareness
N = 386
ρ
IAT score
0.240
p
***
0.001
Legend: *** p ≤ 0.001; rho–Spearman correlation coefficient; p-statistical significance; N-number.
Based on the correlation measurements, we can conclude that the addictive behaviour
measured by the IAT is significantly related to the SA subscale of the TSIS. A weak positive
relationship (ρ = 0.240) was found between social awareness and addictive behaviour on
the Internet at the p ≤ 0.001 level of significance (p = 0.001). This positive correlation of
the Social Awareness subscale values with the IAT scale values reflects a certain level of
statistical significance of the relationship between them, indicating that the higher the
respondent’s social awareness score on the TSIS, the higher the score on IAT—the scale of
addictive behaviour.
4.2. Interpretation of Research Results and the Role of Religiosity
In our research, we found a statistically significant difference in the level of social intelligence by gender in the subscale of social awareness, with males performing significantly
better. We also found a weak statistically significant relationship (r = 0.240) between the
level of addictive behaviour and the level of social awareness. In the other two subscales
of social intelligence according to Silvera et al. (2001)—namely, social information processing and social competence—no statistical differences between men and women were
found within our research sample. In this respect, the results of our research are consistent with other research, e.g., by Bar-On and Parker (2000). According to their research,
women had higher interpersonal skills, were more empathic, and more socially responsible;
men had higher intrapersonal capacity and stress management and were more flexible,
adaptable and optimistic, based on which it can be assumed that the given competences
are complementary and substitute each other and thus produce similar values of overall
social intelligence.
To explain these results, we analysed the seven items that represent social awareness
in the TSIS test (items No 2, 5, 8, 11, 13, 16, 21) (Silvera et al. 2001, p. 319):
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
“I often feel that it is difficult to understand other’ choices.
People often surprise me with the things they do.
Other people become angry with me without me being able to explain why.
It seems as though people are often angry or irritated with me when I say what I think.
I find people unpredictable.
I have often hurt others without realizing it.
I am often surprised by others’ reactions to what I do.”
The application of social awareness items formulated in this questionnaire, created
more than 20 years ago, does not distinguish between the possibility of developing this
component of social intelligence in a traditional school environment and its development
in cyberspace, for example through social media interactions. Based on the society-wide
increase in the excessive use of social media by adolescents in the 2nd and 3rd decades
of the 21st century compared to 2001, it can be assumed that the listed items saturating
social awareness are now significantly influenced by young people’s interactive experiences
on social media. However, proving this claim is not part of our research presented here,
nor have we examined what respondents do online and what content they present about
themselves on social networks. More research specifically focused on this topic would be
needed. Further research is also needed to explain the statistically significant difference
in social awareness between men and women. In the meantime, we can hypothetically
predict that the items assessed in the TSIS test, which saturate social awareness and, as
previously noted, encompass not only awareness in direct physical relationships but also in
online interactions, serve as an apt representation of what men experience in their reflection
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on online relationships within cyberspace. Nonetheless, this remains solely a hypothesis
awaiting further investigation.
Various studies (see below) show that the virtual environment allows individuals to
create a new, digital identity. It is a representational identity that can be invented, which
the individual changes, thus fulfilling their ideas and desires that are absent in reality.
Online behaviour has different attributes to real behaviour in the physical environment.
One of the attributes of the online space is the disinhibiting effect known as the ‘digital mask’
or ‘digital cloak’. The online disinhibition effect explains the difference between an individual’s
behaviour in the physical world and behaviour in the online environment (Shukla 2020). It
works by reinforcing some attributes of behaviour acquired in the physical environment
and weakening others. The positive nature of the online disinhibition effect, called benign
disinhibition (Suler 2004; Lapidot-Lefler and Barak 2015; Shukla 2020), facilitates more
accessible self-expression (Shukla 2020), self-disclosure and sharing. The person can share
their deepest fears, show vulnerability (Suler 2004), or have greater emotional experience
(Lapidot-Lefler and Barak 2015). Further, it promotes a sense of courage, eliminates fear or
apprehension of being judged and perceived by others, and motivates people to take risks.
People do not have to worry about their appearance or reactions; and negative perceived
nonverbal expressions or signs of indifference and disappointment are absent (Suler 2004).
Individuals are motivated to do things in the online environment that they would not
normally do in the offline world (Suler 2004; Davis 2012). It may also promote introjection in
individuals, which may determine the ‘adoption’ of public ideas and opinions as one’s own.
Another impact of the online space is the minimisation of authority, which is formed
based on online social media postings (rather than age, status or social role). The above
encourages the free expression of one’s thoughts. For example, it helps disadvantaged and
stereotyped people to express themselves freely without worrying about the barriers felt in
real life (Shukla 2020).
Existing research demonstrates that “mobile social media present a large number
of experiences from a psychological perspective, each with potential that can result in
problematic behavioural patterns” (Almenayes 2015, p. 45). Young’s scale of Internet
addiction (1996) was also used in the study by Almenayes. In his exploratory factor
analysis, he arrived at three factors of social media addiction—social consequences, time
displacement and compulsive feeling. Religiosity significantly negatively predicts social
consequences as a factor of addiction (p. 50). In his study titled ‘Empirical Analysis
of Religiosity as Predictor of Social Media Addiction’, Almenayes provided an example
of ‘socially inclined’ people who may spend a significant amount of time on Facebook,
frequently revisiting their profile to see how many ‘likes’ their most recent post has received
from others (Almenayes 2015, p. 45).
Also according to a systematic review by Dossi et al. (2022), there is research support
for “a possible role for religiosity as a protective factor” (p. 1); it was documented in the
majority of studies the authors analysed. They also concluded that religiosity seemed “to
be associated with lower internet gaming rates among adolescents” (Dossi et al. 2022, p. 1).
Previous research studies have reported improvements in adolescent mental health as a
result of religion and RE, such as reductions in stress, alcohol and drug use, depression,
school failure, violence, gun ownership, and suicidal behaviour. RE has been shown to be
instrumental in the development of adolescents’ social skills, such as respect for religious
diversity, ability to perceive greater social support from peers, fostering connectedness,
understanding of love and brotherhood, sense of belonging, as well as coping with adversity,
coping mechanisms, resilience, satisfaction with one’s own life, greater meaning in life,
and higher self-esteem (Joshi et al. 2008; Gonçalves et al. 2015; Isralowitz and Reznik
2015; Estrada et al. 2019). In some cases, research also reports negative effects of religion
and RE on adolescent mental health: certain disorders such as obsession, anxiety and
depression, radicalism and extremism, religious discrimination, microaggression, and
gender discrimination (Estrada et al. 2019).
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5. Teaching Suggestions for RE Teachers
In preventing risky behaviour online, across all school subjects, including RE, it
is essential to focus on developing emotional and social competences concerning the
development of empathy, cooperation and assertiveness. As we already mentioned, social
skills are an immanent part of social intelligence and pro-social competence. In Slovakia,
prevention of risky behaviour online is implemented within the framework of preventiveeducational projects through two types of prevention—specific and non-specific prevention.
Non-specific prevention (Tichý et al. 2023) focuses on acquiring positive social behaviour,
adherence to social norms, and education to take responsibility for oneself and one’s actions.
Specific primary prevention programmes are programmes aimed specifically at a particular
form of socio-pathological behaviour. For example, in the case of drugs, it seeks to find
ways to prevent drug use. In the Slovak school system, this non-specific prevention is
carried out by pedagogical staff (within all subjects, including RE and via cross-cutting
themes), together with non-teaching professional school staff (especially social pedagogues)
(Emmerová 2019). The role of RE contributing to development of various transversal
social competences is embedded in the reformed State Educational Programme in Slovakia
(MŠVVŠ 2023), similar to other countries such as NCCA in Ireland (e.g., the key skill of
communicating and of working with others).
Social media, especially those accessible via mobile devices, enable socially sensitive
individuals to have a much greater potential for communication with others, which can culminate in pathological addictive behaviour. An understanding of the correlation between
online addictive behaviour and social awareness should lead all teachers, including RE
teachers, to realize that not all types of tasks or classroom communication within the lesson
clearly fulfil a preventive function with regard to the risks of addictive behaviour. If RE
teachers try to adapt the types of assignments to the students’ desires for more space within
the subject spent using online media, it may happen that, although their social awareness
will develop in the sense of the above-mentioned items, there will also be higher risk of
addictive behaviour. Thus, the RE teacher needs to be aware of the pros and cons of using
social media in RE classes.
As several studies have shown, RE in schools has the potential to prevent addictions
through the formation of authentic personality in their students. This potential can be fully
realized if they are aware of their capabilities and utilize them optimally for the benefit of
themselves and society, while also being able to address the pitfalls of excessive Internet use.
Charlton et al. (2012) found that the higher the level of religiosity of the female respondents,
the lower the level of internet addiction. According to Almenayes (2015, p. 46), religiosity
is a drug preventive factor: “This may be the result of religion’s normative function... The
greater their religiosity is, the less vulnerable” the young people are to various addictive
types of behaviour. Almenayes (2015) concluded that “religiosity protects against social
consequences of social media” (p. 44). Also according to the data from Weinandy and
Grubbs’ (2021) scoping review, “higher religiosity is related to more belief in the disease
model of addiction in providers, negative attitudes towards addiction, and a stronger
support for spiritually-based treatments” (p. 1).
Some authors emphasize the benefits of integrating social media into RE as an enhancement compared to traditional instruction, predicting potential improvements in student
achievements (Minarti et al. 2023, p. 287). Åhman and Thorén (2021) wrote about the
positive, functional and non-threatening effect of Facebook within religious communication
in the Church of Sweden. They considered the positive outcome of using social media in the
Church as “levelling hierarchies and including more people into a process through which
they can voice their different opinions in a democratic manner” (p. 10). They highlighted
the possibility to connect individual and collective, stable and contingent, universal and
experiential values of religion through the utilization of social media in religion. Mitsi
(2017) also presents a comprehensive set of ideas for developing social skills through the
integration of new ICT in RE. According to Çolak (2023), social media provide “support
rather than an alternative to traditional methods, provides quick feedback, contributes to
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sociality while increasing interaction outside the classroom, and increases the role of the
teacher while providing effective communication with students” (p. 2087). Social media
may support the creation and strengthening of interpersonal relationships. Online activities
related to religion and RE include, for example, sending emails on holidays, browsing web
pages with religious content, listening to sermons, sharing spiritual thoughts in forums
and blogs, virtual worship, and RE in a virtual environment, facilitated through platforms
such as YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Blogs, Wikis, and other specific websites.
Çolak (2023), on the other hand, can also recognize the potential adverse side of social
media, namely social media addiction, which can result, for instance, in decreased interest
in schooling and a lack of focus on learning. Therefore, RE teachers should be equipped to
address the challenges associated with the use of social media in RE. Providing innovative
pre- and in-service training to RE teachers can ensure that students do not succumb to the
potential dangers of social media. RE teachers should not hesitate to embrace social media
and deliver this new form of education to students in a healthy and secure manner. Çolak
(2023), and also Minarti et al. (2023), are convinced that ICT can have positive applications
in RE provided that a teacher’s appropriate guidance and supervision are maintained. If an
RE teacher employs social media sensibly and in moderation, it can help mitigate the risk of
addiction within RE and enhance the overall learning experience for students. According
to this group of authors, through meticulous planning of instructional activities and the
application of critical thinking and content selection abilities, utilizing social media can be
a valuable learning tool.
To sum up, RE has the potential to be the subject in which social awareness can be
developed directly through physical participation and interaction in a group of classmates
and contribute to a more balanced social development of RE students, without an increased
risk of their addictive behaviour. This highlights the critical role of guidance and supervision by teachers when implementing social media in the RE classroom. We advocate
that RE teachers should engage in meticulous ethical reflection prior to implementing new
educational technologies in RE (Hanesová et al. 2017). Within the framework of prevention,
emphasis should be placed on building healthy relationships not only with God, but also
with other people, with the outside world, and with oneself. In RE, the most effective
approach to fostering social skills while also preventing extensive Internet use is through
activities that directly stimulate social intelligence in the classroom. Jackson (2014) suggests that from students’ perspectives, schools represent one of the limited spaces where
discussions on religion and encounters with religious diversity occur. His research into
classroom dynamics indicated that allowing students to express their perspectives and
challenge prevailing narratives can enhance their ability to relate their knowledge and
comprehension of religions to their personal and social growth. “The connection of the
personal and the social in classroom interactions suggests ways in which personal refection
can be connected with themes of social morality and citizenship.” (Jackson 2014, p. 61).
RE teachers have a wide range of teaching techniques at their disposal. For example,
they can implement various problem-solving tasks, social group projects (such as service
learning projects), thematically focused debates and face-to-face discussions, as well as
engage in philosophizing and theologizing with students (Büttner 2007; Osewska 2018;
Bravená 2019). Additionally, they can utilize methods of active, experiential, or adventure
learning (Hupková 2011).
6. Conclusions
Various social networking platforms are places where young people are exposed to an
extensive range of potential risks. We consider prevention through the entire educational
curriculum, including RE, to be of paramount importance in the issue at hand, which, based
on our findings, should focus more on the threats arising from the use of social networking
sites, which can adversely affect young people’s mental health. Our task should be to
nurture an authentic personality who is fully aware of their potential and uses it to the best
of their ability, for their own benefit and the benefit of society.
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Several authors have shown that religion and RE has a positive impact on mental
health and the development of social competence in young people (Bartkowski et al. 2019;
Estrada et al. 2019). So, prevention activities also within RE should promote a healthy
lifestyle for children in parallel with their spiritual, moral, personal and social development,
including all social skills. Preventive interventions help children and young people to
acquire knowledge, skills and competences that effectively reduce the risk of occurrence or
development of specific forms of risk behaviour (Miovský et al. 2012).
Numerous RE educators have encountered challenges in balancing traditional academic methods with fostering online interactive activities among students. Increasingly,
many of them are turning to online media during lessons as a way out of the challenges they
face from students. Frequently, there is an assumption that ICT possesses the capability to
effortlessly resolve obstacles in education. However, the reality underscores the necessity
for community and a direct collaborative effort among individuals dedicated to student
welfare, utilizing available resources effectively to promote academic and social advancement. We maintain that when utilized appropriately, ICT harbours the potential to enhance
educational environments positively. Conversely, its misuse can yield detrimental effects.
While some misuse these novel technologies, others leverage them for the betterment of
human development.
The results obtained in our research should be seen in light of the research’s limitations,
which are the size of the research population and the non-random selection of respondents,
as well as the limitations resulting from the older measurement instruments used and
validated in the research conducted.
The authors point to the need for further research of social intelligence or social
skills concerning other aspects or variables, appropriate for the current digital era of RE
instruction and character formation. The need for more research into the role of RE in
preventing addictive behaviour and development of social skills has been suggested by
the majority of authors writing about this topic, such as Almenayes (2015), Weinandy and
Grubbs (2021) and Minarti et al. (2023). These authors caution that there is a growing
need for more studies evaluating the benefits of religiosity/spirituality and/or RE during
adolescence. In particular, research on the correlation between the impact of technology,
cyberspace, social media, and artificial intelligence, and the role of RE in young people’s
lives must progress (Gonçalves et al. 2015; Estrada et al. 2019). This article was also intended
to contribute to the stimulation of such research.
Author Contributions: Conceptualization, M.N. and D.H.; methodology, M.N.; software, M.N.;
validation, M.N. and D.H.; formal analysis, M.N.; investigation, M.N.; resources, M.N. and D.H.;
data curation, M.N.; writing—original draft preparation, M.N. and D.H.; writing—review and
editing, D.H.; visualization, D.H.; funding acquisition, M.N. All authors have read and agreed to the
published version of the manuscript.
Funding: This research was funded by the KEGA project no. 024UMB-4/2022 under the title
Prevention of online risky behaviour.
Institutional Review Board Statement: The questionnaire study was conducted according to the
GDPR guidelines of the University of Matej Bel in Banská Bystrica, Slovakia https://www.umb.sk/
univerzita/verejnost-a-media/gdpr/ochrana-osobnych-udajov.html (accessed on 4 May 2023).
Informed Consent Statement: Not applicable—informed consent was not sought from adult participants who voluntarily participated in the online questionnaire. Reason: no identifying data in
the questionnaire, and total anonymity https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1ZdBu0d43r5VpYT6
PPmgKoMmq-z7O3vmoSisUtWDyNBg/edit?ts=608d10b0 (accessed on 2 April 2024).
Data Availability Statement: The data presented in this study are available on request from the
corresponding authors due to the ethical reasons.
Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.
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