Digital citizenship. Something that we should keep in the forefront of our minds everyday. In the 21st century, a majority of people are digitally engaged. This may be on social media, online learning programs, researching, etc. Personally speaking, I have been actively online since I was 10 years old. It is crazy to think that this is almost half of my life. An even more mind-blowing concept is that children who are born in the 21st century will be actively participating in online programs before they can even talk. They will be watching Youtube videos, using learning apps, and even learning how to use the camera with funny filters. For them, they will be a digital citizen for just about their entire lives.
As people grow, they have the opportunity to learn, make mistakes, and become an active citizen in their community. This is not as simple in terms of digital citizenship. Anything people post can stay there forever, be brought up years later for questioning, or even just embarrass you. It seems like the time limit to learn how to be a good digital citizen is way shorter, but is there a huge difference between citizenship and digital citizenship?
I do not believe there is much difference between citizenship and digital citizenship. According to Ribble's Digital Citizenship website (2017), digital citizenship is "the continuously developing norms of appropriate, responsible, and empowered technology use." When referring to citizenship, an individual's duties, obligations, and functions, there is not much that differs from the responsibilities of digital citizenship. As our society has shifted to having their life spent majority online, it is important that our values and responsibilities as an active "In Real Life (IRL)" citizen carries over to our representation online.
This past week as a new 5th grade teacher (previously 3rd grade), I have been witness to the harsh words and actions that 5th grade students are participating in or being affected by. It was only the third day of school, and students were already being called into the principal's office for bullying. I was shook. This being said, number two, "Treats others with respect in online spaces and never cyberbullies" is at the top of my list. It is important to teach students at a very young age that anything you post online can be traced, take a life of its own with the ability to be shared/screen-shotted, etc. With students having such easy access to technology (on both Learning Management Systems (LMS) and social media platforms), the opportunity for cyberbullying to take place is drastically increased.
In conclusion, digital citizenship is a huge aspect of our everyday lives. Each and every time we login to our computers, laptops, cell phones, we are leaving behind a permanent footprint that can be traced back to us forever. This is a daunting idea to comprehend for even adults, but now we must inform our children of this as they have been digital citizens since before they even realized. Digital citizenship is making responsible online decisions for yourself and those around you.
References:
Dictionary.com. (2021). Citizenship definition & meaning. Dictionary.com. https://www.dictionary.com/browse/citizenship.
Ribble, M. (2017). Digital citizenship consulting - education, technology support. Digital Citizenship. https://www.digitalcitizenship.net/.
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