Investigation of Secondary School Students’ Social-Emotional Learning and Friendship-Making Skills in Terms of Various Variables

Abstract

Social and emotional development is the child’s ability to express himself, establish relationships, recognize himself, adapt to his social environment, and restrain his emotions. Because of this situation, developing children’s social and emotional learning skills is important in increasing their academic success, improving their friendship-making skills in the social environment, developing positive peer relationships, and improving the relationships established in the family environment. This research also aims to examine the social-emotional learning abilities of secondary school students, their friendship making skills with age, gender, classroom, daily phone and computer usage time, and their ability to use digital technologies variables. A sampling of this research’s universe (n = 415) and sample (n = 380) were students studying in seventh and eighth grades at secondary schools in the Kartal district of Istanbul. In this research using the correlational survey model, the data was analyzed in three stages. İt has been determined with a descriptive relational/related model found that social and emotional learning levels increased and that male students had higher social-emotional and relationship-making skills than female students; less daily phone use was higher than students with high social-emotional and friendship-making skills. Finally, secondary school students are becoming more and more able to relate as the level of social-emotional learning increases. Research improving the status of students at a disadvantage in social and emotional learning in this regard will offer positive contributions to developing their relationship skills.