Digital Citizenship for Kids

"Pause & Think Online" - A Kids Video by Common Sense Media

It had been another long day at a local elementary school, working as an teaching assistant in an first grade classroom. I trudged into my room, plopped my book-bag on the floor, and collapsed into my rickety little leather desk chair. With a sigh, I pulled out my smartphone to take a brain-break and check my Facebook. As I scrolled down my news-feed, an edited photo of a female bow-hunter caught my attention (pun notwithstanding). I'm sure that the young blonde kneeling with her bow next to her prize (an eight-point buck, if memory serves) was attractive enough, but of course I couldn't tell with that big red 'X' pasted over her face, emoticons of an explosion and a revolver tacked up to either side of her head. In the comment of the original post was yet another rant against hunters who go out and kill poor innocent animals who are not harming anybody.  

Now, I am not a hunter, nor am I even an outdoors man. I'm far too accustomed to my climate-controlled, mosquito-free indoors! However, when I saw this post by an adult who was behaving like one of the six-year-olds that I had to deal with today who would belittle his classmate for correcting him, I was reminded of just how important the concept of Digital Citizenship is for kids to learn in the Digital Age.

"Pause & Think Online" - A Kids Video by Common Sense Media

Digital Citizenship, as highlighted in the video at the other end of the link above, is the concept that being a responsible, respectful, and safe citizen is just as important online through digital media as it is in public through face-to-face encounters. What I like about this video is that it communicates this message in a simple, entertaining, and easy to remember way that is entirely kid-friendly. If I ever have the privilege of running my own classroom, I intend to show this or a similar video to my students and have a class discussion about it with the aim of promoting desirable Digital Citizenship. I would be sure to stress the fact that if it is okay to do something to the classmate sitting next to them, then it is definitely not okay to do it to some stranger on Facebook. More importantly, I would highlight the importance of privacy protection online, especially with the rise in identity theft and online stalking and I am pleased to see this highlighted in the video.

So, to recap, Digital Citizenship is an important concept for people to grasp in the 21st century because, whether we act like it or not, we are still the same people in cyberspace as we are in the physical realm where we live, work, and play.