Digital Citizenship & Safety

Common Sense Media

Common Sense Media is a fantastic resource that both schools and families can use to educate and reinforce Digital Citizenship skills and lessons with students. Highlighted below are a few resources to get you started:

Introductory video on What is Digital Citizenship?
Digital Connections is a video series that families can watch and discuss together.
Another helpful resource is the Family Tech Planner, which families can use with their children to help make screen time safe and positive.
Digital Compass and Digital Passport are interactive games that are fun, engaging activities for families to learn about digital citizenship together.
Social Media Test Drive provides a simulated experience of realistic digital dilemmas and scenarios, along with key concepts and strategies for navigating them (middle school level).

Here are 5 tips on how to be a responsible digital citizen that families can discuss together:

Don’t accept friend requests or follow requests from strangers or people you’re not familiar with.
Don’t share your location with everyone. It’s okay to share it with a trusted individual like a family member or a close friend in an emergency.
Keep your passwords protected by noting them in a safe place and not sharing them with anyone else.
Don’t lie about your age, and keep your personal and family information private.
Make sure not to click on any links that seem explicit or questionable. They may lead to a harmful virus on your device.