Rights and Responsibilities

Students have the right to use computers and other devices to share their opinions and speak freely.  However, students also need to know that while expressing themselves freely, their communication must be honest and not hurtful.  Students must always be respectful and ethical when using devices.  They also need to learn that school devices are for learning.  I loved the analogy in one of the videos that digital citizenship is like driver's education for computers!  We can't send them out into the cyber world without teaching them about the long lasting effects of improper use.

Honest but not hurtful communication is indeed a big area of online ethics.  As we were all reminded through the videos on that topic, online ethics means being respectful to others, as well as thinking of the long term effects of what was posted. Schools usually have a policy in place about not hurting others online and not breaking copyright, but what happens at a student's home or elsewhere?  I am always "preaching" about online safety. Is it enough?  Do you suppose that we educators can have a long arm effect of making student's think twice about online ethics wherever they are?