Why do we need to teach digital natives to be good citizens?

     In Kindergarten and first grade, we spend a large portion of our days teaching children how to take turns, not interrupt, share, walk without pushing others out of the way, and how to treat others kindly. We remind them without even thinking about it to say "please", "thank you", and "excuse me" when warranted.  In other words, we are teaching them to be good citizens, who can live and work together in harmony.  At least, that's the goal...

     These informal and formal citizenship lessons have been going on in the schools for decades, but now that we are raising and schooling digital natives, we need to add some digital citizenship instruction to our lesson plans.  Some of the lessons are the same-be polite, treat people with respect,don't talk to strangers, etc., but we need to add on to our basic citizenship plan to address the issues that our increasingly digital society faces.

     The wise and safe usage of social media are among the most important digital citizenship skills that we need to teach as educators of digital natives.  Even small children are getting online-interacting with others on Mom or Dad's Instagram or Twitter, or communicating with other players online through video games.  We need to teach children not to post personally identifying information publicly, not to interact with strangers online, and not to give out their passwords to others, among other things.  Adults and children alike need to learn about oversharing-not every thought should be posted online, and many pictures should be kept private.  Now that encyclopedias have been relegated to the attic, or dusty library shelves, we need to teach students how to find reliable web resources for their reports and projects.

     A dangerous element involving digital citizenship is cyberbullying.  No longer are bullies just like that big guy who waits around the corner to beat you up and steal your lunch money, but now, many children and teens are being bullied online.  Kids are being threatened with violence, having their personal photos leaked, getting their social media hacked into and more.  This is a very real, prevalent issue that will at some point, affect most kids throughout their lives in some way.  A classmate, Marilyn M., of M-Squared Station, and I created a Voice Thread presentation on cyberbullying. Please take a moment to view our Digital Citizenship Action Plan to Combat Bullying below.
If video does not work, please use this link: https://iu.voicethread.com/share/8015765/
     So, while we are teaching our young little friends how to get along with others in the classroom, we will now have the huge responsibility of teaching them how to get along in the digital world, as well.  Hopefully, we can raise up a generation of thoughtful, citizens who use technology wisely.  Just one more reminder of how teachers can change the world!