Digital Citizen or Digital Victim
Civilization has dealt with and strived to enhance communication for thousands of years. Most of that time that communication has been a personal and even sometimes intimate exchange. But now society is faced with a new totally different way of communicating that has everyone scratching their heading, trying to figure out right from wrong on the internet. But since this cyber space is so impersonal and indirect the old rules aren't cutting it anymore.
People are able to bash and degrade people on the web so easily, because we are unable to see the effect our words have on people. Now we have children who are growing up in cyber space where they can say and post whatever they like with few consequences. These children are struggling when it comes to actually communicating with someone face to face. Children who are growing up during this digital explosion are unable to identify social cues and social norms like the generations before them could.
After shining light on these facts of today, we must do something to inspire change in the young people of today. When I say 'we' I mean parents and teachers of these children. Educating our students on the do's and don'ts of the cyber web is the only way to ensure that our students have the tools to navigate the web successfully.
Digital citizenship to me means having the ability to be a productive member of the cyber world. It means knowing the difference between appropriate and inappropriate post/comments on the web. It is also making connections with people, who without this technology it would be very hard to interact with them. In full, it is having a positive contribution to the internet.
Since there aren't really any rules for online interactions it is easy for someone to be hurt or affected by what someone posts online. Personally I have been hurt from people posting online, but not directly. When I was in high school, my friends went somewhere without inviting me. While they were out having fun they posted pictures and comments talking about how great of a time they were having, and I felt very left out. I didn't do or say anything about it. But if I could redo it, I would have told my friends face to face that I was hurt by what they did.
"Digital citizenship has become a
priority for schools that see technology
integration as a major teaching
and learning strategy for preparing
students to live and work in the 21st
century."
-Mike S. Ribble,
Gerald D. Bailey,
and Tweed W. Ross
The internet has this negative stigma associated with it because of the dangers that come along with it. Parents are very nervous about letting their children be on the internet because of the fear of child predators. With this fear in some many parent's minds, it paralyzes children's ability to express their creativity online. This fear hurts them more than the prevention helps them.
So it is our job as educators to help develop our students create a sense of digital citizenship for themselves. It is also our responsibility to inspire and cultivate creativity not only in the classroom but also in the rest of their lives.
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