Digital Citizenship

The internet is a big and complex thing and those that use it need to be careful how they use it or it could result in issues. Digital citizenship is something that should be discussed and taught to every child and be taken very seriously. In our world today almost every person has some type of technology and is on some form of social media. New apps and trends come out almost daily and children or young adults need to be aware that their actions online do matter and do have an effect. Digital citizenship is such a broad concept but boils down to one thing; to be appropriate and use technology appropriately. As a future educator, I want to enforce this in my personal life and classroom.

The internet can be used in for many great things and help provide learning in ways we cannot provide in just a normal classroom setting. However, if used incorrectly and abused, the internet can be a scary thing. Digital citizenship has about nine different elements, depending on who you talk to or what website you go to. Anyways, the nine elements are digital access, digital commerce, digital communication, digital literacy, digital etiquette, digital law, digital rights and responsibilities, digital health, and digital security. All of these elements are important and tie in to how to have good digital citizenship. For children it is essential to get across the point that they need to be aware of what they post or watch because it could be harmful to them or to others.

My biggest concern when I was researching digital citizenship, and thinking like a future teacher, was cyber bullying. Trying to prevent bullying in the classroom or at school in the halls or on the playground is hard enough and now we have to worry about what goes on online and outside of school. Children do not realize the harm their words do to each other or what their posts makes them look like. It is also important that they do not get themselves into trouble or scary situations. I feel that as a parent and a teacher, social media is going to be on the top of my list for things that I am always going to worry about. Most of us know what it feels like to be on the other end of a mean comment or message and if by teaching children about digital citizenship can help that, then I will.