Inappropriate Use Digital Media

My daughter was 10 yrs. old and was allowed to use my device to communicate via text with a friend.   I trusted that she was communicating appropriately until one day, I happened to receive one of the texts at work and realized that she and her friend were unaware of how their messages were coming across.  They were writing as if they were speaking which, unfortunately, was not very kind.  I used this as a learning moment for myself (to be more vigilant) and a teaching moment for her (how words can be misconstrued without facial expression or intonation of speaking).  I have since tried to monitor closely and point out to her when her words can come across as hurtful or offensive, even though they are not meant to be.   This is a skill that we have to teach our children and it requires our constant attention.  

I agree with making sure students have some awareness that language used in the digital world should be equivalent to what you would say face-to-face. It is easy to be offensive with words, yet students need to recognize impact of both written and stated language use.

I was a manager for a military pharmacy.  I had sent an email to a supervisor in regards to the work performance of an employee.  The supervisor thought he was sending his candid comments just to me.  He had accidentally sent the email to the whole pharmacy.  This created a real fire storm.  The work environment was never the same.