The Importance of Teaching Digital Citizenship

October 21-25, 2013 was Digital Citizenship Week across the education world. However, in the district where I teach, it went unobserved or even mentioned. The more I read about the necessity of teaching Digital Citizenship, the more I realize it MUST start at the youngest of levels. I liken it to wearing seatbelts. When I was growing up there were no seatbelts in cars. As time progressed and seatbelts were added, they almost seemed optional. By the time I was learning to drive, seatbelts were becoming required. Now they are mandatory in every state and the rules of the road are automatic with the newer generations of car riders and drivers. It would never occur to my children to NOT wear a seatbelt. So it is with Digital Citizenship: if we start with the very youngest users of technology, the where’s and what-for’s will develop an automatic awareness of how to effectively and safely navigate the waters of technology. Anne Collier, speaking at the Digital Media and Learning Conference in 2011 had the same thought when she said, “Citizenship and Media Literacy need to be taught from the moment a connected device is put in a child’s hands.” (www.cyberwise.org/blogwise.html)

                Sounds good, right? However it is difficult to find meaningful lessons for very small children. As educators and parents we often view small children as unable to really comprehend the dangers of web surfing, chat rooms, etc. so we just don’t attempt the conversations with them. After looking more closely I found several opportunities and tools for teaching small children the importance of being a responsible digital citizen. Pbskids.org has an interesting program for children eight to ten. It is called Webonauts and is designed to walk them through the need to “observe, respect, and contribute” responsibly on the web. (www.pbskids.org/webonauts) Children learn about passwords, chat rooms, and have various other missions as they learn to navigate the internet safely. The most helpful website I found was Commonsensemedia.org. Through the website I viewed a video entitled “The Importance of Teaching Digital Citizenship “ and learned the importance of internet safety as students are responsible for collaboration and “more engagement with the digital world” as Diana Paradise of the Santa Clara Unified School District stated. Additionally, the website offers lessons for all grades which are developmentally appropriate and easy for parents and teachers to use as lesson platforms.

                As the mother of teenage daughters, I am continually amazed by the many ways teens connect with each other. Since Facebook was taken over by middle-aged housewives (as my girls like to say), teens have turned to Instagram, SnapChat, and Ask.fm. to connect with others. These are not always a place of adolescent innocence. Many of these sites have been used to bully other teens or exclude, tease, or disrespect others. Piper Graber is a 14 year old who narrates the blog “What Kids Are (Really) Doing Online” gives several suggestions for parents on policing these sites. The one I thought was the most important said, “don’t just ask once, ask again and again” what your kids are up to on the web. (www.cyberwise.org/blogwise.html) Find out for yourself and see with your own eyes what your child is doing on the web. Marc Prensky, a famed gaming researcher says, “having been completely immersed and surrounded by technology and digital media for their entire lives” (Cennamo, Katherine S., Ertmer, Peggy A., Ross, John D. (2010). Technology Integration for Meaningful Classroom Use.313) teens and even younger children don’t always have an immediate awareness of digital safety and their responsibility on the web. They must be reminded and re-taught often.