Orientations of attention in a digital world: cultivating practices of technological resilience

This essay addresses growing concerns among educators and parents about youth loneliness, declining literacy, and increased screen use. Rather than framing digital technology as purely harmful or beneficial, the essay argues that such binary responses fail to reflect the complexity of lived experience, where connection, learning, and risk coexist. A better response is an education of ‘digital technological resilience,’ defined as the capacity to make informed, context-sensitive choices about technology use, understand its risks, and respond to potential harms. The essay illustrates practices of cognitive patience, imaginative speculation, and deep listening, which may cultivate this form of resilience in young people, using the picture book, On a Magical Do-Nothing Day by Beatrice Alemagna.