Digital Citizenship & Safety
In today’s connected world, learning how to stay safe online is just as important as staying safe in the real world. Practicing responsible digital habits helps protect personal information, prevent online risks, and build a positive online reputation. Here are five important tips that families can discuss together to become responsible digital citizens:
- 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.
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).
Cybercop
CyberCop teaches our parents and students how to be safe in this digital world! The district has offered workshops for parents to teach them:
- Current apps kids are using and what you need to know about them
- Risks associated with popular social media sites
- "Sexting" and online predators
- How to set expectations and consequences
- How to monitor online activity and find secret Instagram accounts
- How to talk to your child about pornography
- Parental controls and privacy settings
Additional Resources
- Citizenship in the Digital Age
- Parenting, Media, and Everything In Between
- App Guide for Parents & Teachers
- Parenting in the digital world checklist (PDF)
- Lista de verificacion sobre como criar a los hijos en un mundo digital (PDF)
- Student internet & mobile device contract (PDF) (Recommended between Students and Parent)
- Contrato de estudiante sobre el uso de internet & dispositivo movil (PDF) (Recomendado entre Estudiantes y Padres)