Service-learning as a strategy to prevent online hate speech perpetration in secondary education

Abstract

This paper reports on the impact of a service-learning program to prevent online hate speech perpetration among students in secondary education. Developed by the Spanish Volunteering Platform, the three months intervention used a quasi-experimental with cluster randomization design with 74 students (aged 13.28 ± 0.36 years) from a public high school in Madrid, Spain. Multivariate regression (Model 10) showed significant effects for coping skills (β = -0.974, p < 0.05) and LGTBI phobia (β = 0.631, p < 0.05), with an R-square of 50.9 and an adjusted R-square of 42.7, with a moderate effect size (d = 0.33). It is recommended that service-learning programs be implemented and adapted in school settings as an effective strategy to prevent online hate speech perpetration among secondary school students, emphasizing the need to strengthen methodological rigor and expand the reach of such interventions to maximize their impact.