The “Safe Maturity” campaign by the State Police and Skuola.net is back to counter fake news on the state exam and correctly inform students.
Almost 1 in 4 mature adults think they can keep their smartphone with them during tests, around 1 in 5 who can use a smartwatch.
And some still fall into the trap of traces available online and risk spending the night before trying to find them…
Years pass but, for students preparing to take their final exams, the risk of falling into one of the traditional fake news on exam rules remains very high. Enough to raise the level of attention on possible “hoaxes” linked to the basic rules that govern the State Exam. This is something that the Postal and Cyber Security Police promptly do with “Safe Maturity”, the awareness campaign carried out together with the specialized portal Skuola.net, which for the seventeenth consecutive year has set itself the objective of “dismantling” the main fake news on the subject.
New technologies in particular, with the constant development of digital “helps”, can lead to temptation. Becoming a possible amplifier of behavioral errors. Which, in the worst cases, can even lead to exclusion from the exam. The risk is real. This is clearly shown by the answers given by the approximately 1,000 graduates reached by the monitoring carried out by Skuola.net for the State Police approximately one week before the start of the 2024 Maturity.
Almost 1 in 4 students, for example, are convinced that smartphones can be kept with them at the workstation during written tests. When, however, they must be delivered to the commission desk, as 77% of the sample interviewed correctly demonstrated. And if 17% are aware that the phones must remain strictly turned off, 6% think that they can even be used at the risk of being recalled or penalized during the correction phase and not, as could happen, of seeing the entire system invalidated. examination. Furthermore, the share of those who could encounter incorrect use of the smartphone during the exam increases by 20% compared to the previous year. Not exactly a good viaticum.
Something similar happens with another “special watchdog”: the smartwatch. In this case, almost 1 in 6 (17%) think that the tech watch can be worn and used easily on the wrist during written tests, as long as it is not connected to the Internet. While 4% are convinced that it can also be used without any limitations to access the Internet. If the first is already an erroneous belief, let alone the second, which is in fact an absolutely prohibited practice. Given that the use of a smartwatch – of any type – is inhibited as much as that of a mobile phone, yet overall 1 in 5 is convinced of the opposite.
The function of “Safe Maturity”, however, is not only to inform about possible infringements related to the Maturity but also to remind some fundamental aspects of the exam regulations, failure to comply with which could lead to exclusion: from the need to present yourself with an identity document and not to introduce any other documents other than those provided by the commission. Without forgetting the actual fake news.
Around a quarter of high school graduates (26%) are in fact convinced that the Police can monitor smartphones “remotely” to understand who may be copying; which is not true. And even almost half (46%) believe that, during exams, commission members can search candidates for prohibited objects. Even in this case, this is incorrect information which must be debunked, however caution should be exercised, given that the exam commissioners, if they notice illegal manoeuvres, still have the right to exclude candidates caught in the act of “copying”.
And then there’s the big, age-old topic of exam tracks. Especially those of written Italian. Because there are still too many students who think they will find the ideas to develop on the day of the test in advance, especially online. “Only” 76% of graduates are aware that only rumours, predictions or, at most, examples can be found online.
24%, however, believe that at least the topics are disseminated first; 4% think that with the right moves you can get your hands on the actual tracks with a few hours’ head start. And over 1 in 3 imagine that the Ministry can change the tracks even at the last minute. So it is not surprising that around 1 in 7 are tempted, on the eve of their final exams, to monitor social platforms and specialized sites until late at night, hoping for the winning cue.
This is why campaigns such as the “anti-hoax” campaign by the State Police and Skuola.net are extremely useful for spreading correct messages and clearing away misleading beliefs.
The Maturity exam is a very important appointment for students and for this reason it is necessary to maintain the serenity necessary to face them. False news, on the other hand, can lead to sterile distractions, reducing the concentration that is necessary to face one of the most important moments of the school career.
All messages, these, also contained in a short video built in line with the social trends of the moment, therefore using a language as close as possible to that of the protagonists of the exam. The content, which features the official YouTuber Nikolais, will be available on the Skuola.net platform and on the social channels Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, X of the State Police and the student media.
This year too, the operators of the PS online police station will therefore be available to the children to answer all their questions and doubts about the information circulating on the Internet. Furthermore, a representative of the State Police will participate in the traditional live broadcast of Skuola.net at eve of the first day of exams, to wish good luck to all the students participating in the 2024 State Exam.
