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First, I am dating myself a bit but the internet did not even exist until I was out of college. Additionally, I am a mom of 5. And in our family there is an 18 year span between my oldest and my youngest children.
I can say with all honesty that it has been interesting to watch the evolution of materials related to digital citizenship in schools change over the years. There was very little time and energy spent on this topic when my 26 year old was in school aside from discussing cheating and cyber bullying in her high school years. This year, I was highly impressed with the education my 9 year old received BEFORE being issued use of his school laptop computer.
I like that my son's teacher (school curriculum) included information both about his rights and his responsibilities of being a digital citizen.
The rights included things like this:
1. You have the right to participate in the digital world.
2. You have a right to access information and grow your knowledge of the world around you through electronic investigation.
3. You have a right to continue to expand your knowledge of technology and implement those new discoveries in your daily use of technology.
4. You have a right to keep your personal information safe.
5. You have a right to express yourself.
The responsibilities included things like this:
1. You must treat others with respect.
2. You must keep yourself and your personal information safe.
3. You must access only credible sources of information.
4. You must understand that electronic media is permanent and once posted cannot be taken back.
5. You must give credit where credit is due.
I know there was far more too it than this, but what I like is that the kids were given basic rights and responsibilities with VERY AGE APPROPRIATE, SPECIFIC EXAMPLES of those rights and responsibilities (for example: keep your personal information safe. Do not share the following information: age, school, address, phone number, family information, birth date, etc). In this way, my son could gain some insight into what the loftier definitions of the rights and responsibilities meant.
There is also an on-going dialogue that my son's class has with their teacher about the rights and responsibilities so that it is not a one and done and soon forgotten issue. It really has become a conscious part of their thought process when it comes to electronic usage.
The other message that they constantly reinforce with the kids is if ever in doubt get the help of a trusted adult!!
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