Friend-Ship cartoon

Reclaiming the importance of friendship, Youmanity delivered an interactive project with secondary school students from the Falcone Borsellino-Carelli Institute, Italy.

In a nutshell, five groups discussions encouraged 13-year old students to share they vision as to what true friendship meant to them. They were then were assigned an essay entitled: The Fragility of Human Relationships

The essays were handed over, anonymously, to allow students to describe their perception and experience of friends and friendships, as freely and as honestly as possible. During the next group discussion, the essays were red in class. Instances of social isolation, with some students feeling left out by peers, were thus identified. Subsequent group discussions acted as a time for reflection, with tutors conveying words of advice and support, thus promoting more human connection.

From the essays, students identified key expressions and words that not only became their manifesto of friendship, but the dialogue for a digital cartoon (see below). One of the students lent their voice to the main cartoon character. Others recoded sounds used as special effects (local church bells, birds and traffic sound) that were included in the cartoon.

Here is the students' Manifesto of Friendship 

Friends: none are normal; none are weird. Each friend is just unique!

A real friend is a safe, welcoming person we can run to when we’re feeling happy, sad, insecure or frustrated. 

Friends are always there to pick us up when we feel down, showing us empathy, respect and consideration. 

Around friends, we can be ourselves without fear of being judged - there is no competition or jealousy among them.

A strong friendship stands the test of time, silence and distance. There are no Premier League friends. Each has qualities and faults (no one is perfect).

“But .. How do we recognise a true friend?”

Well … a true friend listens to what we have to say without prejudice, allowing us to express feelings freely, good and bad. A friend shares our anxieties and worries as well as our happiness and success. A good friend remains loyal, protecting us even when we are not able to. They are our stars - looking over us even when we can’t see them!!

Friends can be brutally honest too. The truth hurts sometimes, but they point out things that are in our best interest, helping us to learn when making mistakes - just like we do when they make mistakes! A friend, therefore, accepts who we are, but remains always truthful, helping us to become the best version of ourselves.

Sometimes things don't always go the way we want them to because over time we ALL change. Misunderstandings happen even among best friends, but the ability to overcome challenges together, and to forgive one another, make friendships stronger than ever. 

So, as we grow older, our interests and priorities evolve. We may end up in different schools or move to different countries, but if that happens, we hope that we’ll meet again some day and continue from where we left off. Good friends may go in opposite directions yet remain side by side.

All in all, diamonds are NOT girls’ best friends, but it’s your best friends who are your diamonds. Don’t you forget that!!

The Friend-Ship cartoon was delivered by the director of Youmanity, Angelo Judice, and the school point of reference against bullying/cyberbullying, Rosa Pepe, whom we thank most heartedly for her contribution to this project.