Lesson video

Hello, my name's Mrs. Rawbone and I'd like to welcome you to this Religious Education lesson today.

We're going to be looking at personhood and what might be the people of the future.

And in today's lesson we'll be looking at, "Face to face: the changing nature of connection.

" I'm really looking forward to working with you today on this really interesting and relevant topic.

In today's lesson, you will be able to reflect on some theological and philosophical positions regarding relationships both online and in real life.

Keywords that we'll be using today are communication, connection, and relationships.

By communication we mean the sharing of meaning between people through spoken, written, or nonverbal expression.

Connection is a link between people created through communication or shared interaction.

And relationships are connections between people formed through communication.

Look out for these words in today's lesson, they will be highlighted in bold.

Today's lesson will have two parts.

We'll be looking at "Changing patterns of connection" and also at "Meaningful relationships.

" So let's get started looking at "Changing patterns of connection.

" The way we build connection with others has changed over time.

If we look back to ancient times, spoken language is thought to have emerged between 50,000 and 150,000 years ago.

Encounters happened face to face.

Historians estimate that the first handwritten letters ever were sent by the Queen of Persia in around 500 BCE.

The telephone was invented in 1876 and it allowed people to hear each other's voices instantly over long distances for the first time ever.

If we move forward to 1973, nearly 100 years later, the first mobile phone call was made.

Early mobile phones were of course very large and heavy.

The first text message was sent in 1992.

Early messages were short and they were slow to type, but now of course we send instant texts, videos, and even voice notes.

And back in 2001, the first mobile video call was made when 3G phones began letting people see each other whilst talking to each other.

So in the 1800s, letter writing was a key way to communicate with others when you were not able to see them face to face.

For example, the author Jane Austen is likely to have received multiple letters a day.

In one letter, which was part of a lifelong conversation that she had with her sister Cassandra, she wrote, "I must confess I like writing letters very well.

It is the only way of conversing freely with those one loves and enables one to express exactly what one would say by word of mouth.

" Nowadays, of course, there's a wide range of online platforms that make it simple to connect with people that we are not physically with.

Many of us are using our phones in the same way that Jane Austen used letter writing.

We use them to express what we want to say to those that we love.

The difference, of course, is that new technologies mean that that connection has become faster and more immediate.

So take a moment to think about the missing word in this sentence.

"Over time, has become faster and more immediate thanks to new technologies.

" Pause the video, have a think, jot down your answer, and come back when you're ready to check.

So well done if you put the word connection.

Humans have always craved connection, but that has become faster and much more immediate in recent times.

Alex's family are taking part in a survey about the use of mobile phones, and they've been asked two questions.

They'll be thinking about, how do you use your mobile phone to connect with others?

And also how they feel when they don't have their phones with them.

Now, different members of Alex's family have been asked about these questions, so the first question, how do you use your mobile phone to connect with others?

Has been asked of Alex's grandmother.

She responds, "I use my phone a few times a day to keep in touch with people.

I do prefer speaking to people, but messages are useful for quick updates.

I've recently started video calling the family who live further away, which is lovely because it feels like seeing them in real life.

" Alex's uncle is answering the same question.

He says, "I use my phone throughout the day to stay in touch.

I send lots of quick messages and my group chats are usually busy.

I call when something needs a proper conversation and I use video calls to catch up with people that I don't see often.

" Now let's have a look at how Alex answers this question.

Alex says, "Sending messages is quicker than calling and it means I can keep in touch with more people.

But there are definitely times when a message isn't enough.

Video calls are great as it allows me to talk about important things face to face, even when I'm not with the person.

" I wonder which of those three answers you connect with most.

They've also been asked, how do you feel when you don't have your phone with you?

Alex's grandmother says, "I remember when my family first encouraged me to get a mobile phone.

It didn't seem necessary at the time, but now it's become an easy way to stay connected.

That said, I don't worry if I don't have my phone with me.

If someone really needs me, they'll ring again, and I can always reply to a message later.

" Alex's uncle says, "I feel a little unsettled, mostly because so much of my day runs through my phone.

If I don't have it with me, I worry I might miss something from work or a message from the family.

My phone is my main way of staying connected now, which is a big change from when I first got a phone when I started working.

" Let's have a look at Alex's answer.

Alex says, "I feel a little bit lost when I don't have my phone with me because I use it to stay connected with people.

I'm on several messaging platforms, and if I'm away even for just an hour, I can miss lots of messages.

I start wondering if someone's trying to get in touch, they might need my help, or I might miss something important.

" Again, I wonder, which of those do you relate to most?

So let's take a moment to check your understanding.

Is this statement true or false?

"Being without a phone can affect people differently depending on their age, habits, and responsibilities.

" Pause if you need to.

Think about your answer but also think about why.

So well done if you put that it's true.

But why is this true?

Well, when we looked at the answers from Alex's family, you may have noticed that people are affected in different ways when they're without their phone.

Some people rely on it for constant updates, whilst others might see it as something they could easily step away from, or at least for a time.

For our first task, I'd like you to think about different ways of people staying connected today and how they are different from in the past.

Alex's grandmother was a teenager in the 1960s.

I want you to use the table to compare how her ways of staying connected when she was growing up differ from Alex's experiences today.

So we have on the table a row that says "Ways of connecting" and there you're going to describe their ways of connecting.

Alex's grandmother as a teenager in the 1960s, which is of course before mobile phones, and Alex's experiences as a teenager now.

Have a think about your own life as well.

Maybe you can use that to help.

How do you connect?

How might older people that you know connect?

What might the difference have been when they were your age and what also might have been similar?

Pause the video and take your time.

Come back when you're ready to see an example of what you might have written.

So you might have said that for Alex's grandmother, her ways of connecting were probably more likely to be face-to-face conversations using a landline or a payphone, letters and postcards.

In fact, in the 1960s, it would've been quite common for many households not even to have a landline in them.

Alex's experiences as a teenager now.

Well, face-to-face conversations would still be important, but of course he might have a smartphone, use messaging apps, video calls, social media, and lots of instant notifications.

So when thinking about the differences, you might've said that communication for Alex's grandmother would've required more planning.

She would've had to be in a specific place near a landline or a payphone to talk to someone who she wasn't nearby physically.

And for Alex, of course, communication is quicker and often instant.

He can more easily communicate with people from wherever he is as long as he has his smartphone with him.

What other similarities?

Well, you might have made the point that people still connect face to face and that communication is still important to them.

So well done if you managed to draw out some of those differences and those similarities.

For the second part of our lesson, we're going to be looking at "Meaningful relationships.

" Relationships are connections between people formed through interaction or through communication.

We can use different lenses to explore why people develop and maintain relationships.

From a social science angle, relationships help people survive through cooperation and support.

Philosophy might argue that relationships shape our identity and how we choose to live our lives.

And using a theology lens, we might say that relationships reflect the fact that God created us for the purpose of connecting with each other.

Alex, Sofia, Lucas, and Aisha are discussing what they think makes relationships meaningful.

Alex says, "Being fully present makes a relationship meaningful.

" Sofia says, "Trust and reliability make a relationship meaningful.

" Lucas says, "Honest communication makes a relationship meaningful.

" And Aisha says, "Shared commitment makes a relationship meaningful.

" So which of those statements fits best with your own view?

Take a moment.

Turn and talk to someone nearby if there's someone available, pause the video, have a think, and then come back when you're ready to move on with the lesson.

Alex is thinking about his relationship with his cousin.

He says, "I have a good relationship with my cousin.

I feel like we are always there for each other.

" He's reflecting on how he connects with his cousin.

He says, "I usually see my cousin a few times a year, and we always go on holiday together.

Depending on what's going on in our lives, we message a few times a week and we video call when we can.

" If we showed this visually in a bar, it might look like this.

With a small amount of time spent face to face and the majority of their relationship conducted online or through digital means.

Now have a think about how you connect with people.

Choose one relationship.

How much of that connection takes place face to face and how much takes place digitally?

You might like to shade a bar to represent this.

So pause the video, take your time, have a think, and come back when you're ready to move on.

Have a think now about a different relationship.

Would the bar look different?

Does the way you connect with someone either face to face or digitally make a difference to how meaningful a relationship is?

If you're able to turn and talk to someone nearby, please do.

Pause the video, take your time, and come back when you've had a chance to have a real think about this and are ready to move on with the lesson.

Sherry Turkle is a social scientist and she's a professor who studies how digital tools shape our relationships, our identity, and our communication.

She argues that digital communication provides an illusion of connection.

The constant contact feels like genuine connection, but it often lacks the depth, attention, and the emotional presence of real conversation.

According to Turkle, digital tools let us keep people at a comfortable distance.

So what this means is that by messaging we can respond when we want, or we can answer the phone when we want to, we can edit what we say, we can avoid the intensity of real time conversation if we want to.

And although we get connection on our own terms, which you might think is a good thing, Sherry Turkle argues that this control comes at a cost.

For her, the cost is that when we keep relationships at a safe, managed distance, we lose the depth and the unpredictability that make connection meaningful.

And in the end, she says, this adds to our loneliness.

So let's check our understanding of what Sherry Turkle says.

What does she mean by the illusion of connection?

Does she mean A, that online friendships are always fake?

Does she mean B, that technology can make shallow contact feel like real closeness?

Does she mean C, that people never talk face to face anymore?

Or does she mean D, social media replaces all real relationships?

Take a moment, pause if you need to.

Come back when you're ready to check your answer.

So well done if you put B.

Sherry Turkle says that technology can make shallow contact feel like real closeness.

This is the illusion of connection.

Pope Francis led the Catholic Church from 2013 until his death in 2025 and was known for speaking about real modern issues that affect young people today.

In 2020, he wrote a letter called "Fratelli tutti," which means, "We are all brothers and sisters.

" And in that letter he explained that humanity is connected.

Father Jason is a Roman Catholic priest and he's explaining what "Fratelli tutti" teaches about meaningful relationships.

He says, "In 'Fratelli tutti', Pope Francis teaches that digital relationships are different from face-to-face relationships.

Although it might feel like we are really communicating, this is an illusion.

Relationships grow when we encounter each other face to face.

" So Pope Francis was interested in what made relationships real and meaningful, and had some concerns about digital relationships.

What do you think?

Does digital communication feel different to you?

Is that a good or is it a bad thing?

Turn and talk to someone nearby if you can, or you can talk to me.

Pause the video and come back when you're ready to move on.

Pope Francis says digital relationships miss the physical signs we use to really understand each other.

So what he means by this is that when you are with someone in person, you notice physical things like facial expressions, the tone of voice, hand movements, pauses in the conversation.

And without these cues, it's much harder to form deep connections or really understand what another person is feeling.

He uses the Parable of the Good Samaritan in his letter to explain what real relationships require.

Now, you might be familiar with this story already.

And if you are, you'll know that the Samaritans and the Jewish people were longstanding enemies at the time of Jesus.

He told this story to get across a message about what was meant by the term "love your neighbor.

" Now, in the story, the Samaritan bends down to touch and heal the wounds of the Jewish person.

He helps him to get up, and we can see in this image here that he clearly has physically touched this person, lifted him, put bandages on him, and placed him on his donkey.

The Samaritan was moved to help another person based on this face-to-face encounter.

Now, Pope Francis argues that we are much more likely to help people in need and to look after each other if we actually see them face to face and if we potentially have that physical contact.

What do you think?

Is this true?

Do you agree that we're more likely to help those in need if we actually see them face to face and we have the possibility of physical contact with them?

Take a moment and turn and talk to someone nearby or you can talk to me, pause the video, come back when you're ready to move on.

So let's check your understanding.

What warning does Pope Francis give about digital contact in "Fratelli tutti"?

Is it A, that it always creates deep friendship; B, it can feel like friendship, yet it keeps people distant; C, it replaces the need for real relationships; or D, it is more meaningful than face-to-face encounters?

Pause if you need to, jot down your answer, and come back when you're ready to move on.

So well done if you put B.

Pope Francis argued it can feel like friendship and yet it keeps people distant.

For Task B, I'd like you to consider this statement.

"Digital relationships give us an illusion of connection.

" Firstly, please discuss this with a partner.

If you don't have a partner, you can always pause the video and turn and talk to me, and decide how far you agree or disagree with it.

You could draw a continuum and mark your views along the continuum along with reasons for them.

So take your time, pause the video, have a really good discussion, a really good think about the statement and how far you agree, and then come back when you're ready to move on.

So your continuum might have looked something like this, but of course your view might have been quite different.

For example, roughly in the middle you might have written that digital relationships can create an illusion of connection when they rely on quick messages or edited versions of ourselves.

But you might have said they can also support real friendships when people use them to communicate honestly.

So well done if you've managed to explain where you would place your view on that continuum from disagree to agree.

For the second part of our task, I'd like you to think about how close Sherry Turkle and Pope Francis' views are to yours, and you're going to add them to the continuum and explain an agreement or disagreement.

So again, you can turn and talk to someone nearby, working with a partner, or you can talk to me.

Pause the video, have a think about what both of those individuals said, write down your answers, then come back when you're ready to see what you could have written.

So for this part of the task, your continuum could have looked like this.

At number 10, agree.

Sherry Turkle would place herself near the illusion of connection end.

These were actually her words, so that does make sense, because she believes digital communication often replaces real presence.

Pope Francis would also be toward the end because he warns that digital communication can weaken genuine human encounter.

We share, if you worked with a partner, or maybe I share their concern about shallow online contact, but don't think digital relationships are as limited as they suggest.

Now, of course, your view might have been quite different from that, but well done if you've managed to explain what the views of Sherry Turkle and Pope fronts are and to compare them with your own.

In today's lesson, we've thought really hard about technology and how it's changed how people connect by making communication constant and online.

We've considered that people often choose messaging because it feels easier and more controlled than talking in person.

We've thought about Sherry Turkle and how she argues that digital contact can feel like connection whilst remaining shallow.

And we've learned how Pope Francis teaches that meaningful relationships grow through encounter and real presence.

Thank you so much for working with me today on this lesson and for thinking through some of these really important and challenging issues for us in today's world.