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Healthy Children

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​​In a world where children are "growing up digital," it's important to help them learn healthy concepts of digital use and citizenship. Parents play an important role in teaching these skills.

Tips from AAP to Help Families Manage the Ever Changing Digital Landscape:

Treat media as you would any other environment in your child's life. The same parenting guidelines apply in both real and virtual environments. Set limits; kids need and expect them. Know your children's friends, both online and off. Know what platforms, software, and apps your children are using, what sites they are visiting on the web, and what they are doing online.

Set limits and encourage playtime. Media use, like all other activities, should have reasonable limits. Unstructured and offline play stimulates creativity. Make unplugged playtime a daily priority, especially for very young children.

Screen time shouldn't always be alone time. Co-view, co-play and co-engage with your children when they are using screens-​it encourages social interactions, bonding, and learning. Play a video game with your kids. It's a good way to demonstrate good sportsmanship and gaming etiquette. Watch a show with them; you will have the opportunity to introduce and share your own life experiences and perspectives-and guidance. Don't just monitor them online-interact with them, so you can understand what they are doing and be a part of it.

Be a good role model. Teach and model kindness and good manners online. Because children are great mimics, limit your own media use. In fact, you'll be more available for and connected with your children if you're interacting, hugging and playing with them rather than simply staring at a screen.

Limit digital media for your youngest family members. Avoid digital media for toddlers younger than 18 to 24 months other than video chatting. For children 18 to 24 months, watch digital media with them because they learn from watching and talking with you. Limit screen use for preschool children, ages 2 to 5, to just 1 hour a day of high-quality programing. Co-viewing is best when possible and for young children. They learn best when they are re-taught in the real world what they just learned through a screen. So, if Ernie just taught the letter D, you can reiterate this later when you are having dinner or spending time with your child. See Healthy Digital Media Use Habits for Babies, Toddlers & Preschoolers.

Don't use technology as an emotional pacifier. Media can be very effective in keeping kids calm and quiet, but it should not be the only way they learn to calm down. Children need to be taught how to identify and handle strong emotions, come up with activities to manage boredom, or calm down through breathing, talking about ways to solve the problem, and finding other strategies for channeling emotions.

Media and digital devices are an integral part of our world today. The benefits of these devices, if used moderately and appropriately, can be great. But, research has shown that face-to-face time with family, friends, and teachers plays a pivotal and even more important role in promoting children's learning and healthy development. Keep the face-to-face up front, and don't let it get lost behind a stream of media and tech.

The tips above were written from two AAP policies, "Media Use in School-Aged Children and Adolescents" and "Media and Young Minds," and the technical report entitled "Children and Adolescents and Digital Media," which were published in the November 2016 edition of Pediatrics. They were also drawn from the proceedings of the AAP Sponsored Growing Up Digital: Media Research Symposium, a gathering of media experts, researchers and pediatricians to address new developments in research and media and their impact on children.

Additional Information from HealthyChildren.org:

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media use~ digital age~ 10 tips for parents~ kids and social~ managing a kid's media use~ ipad~ cell phone~ iphone~ tv in bedroom~ phone in bedroom~ playtime~ video games~ communicating with your teen~ technology as a babysitter~ facetime

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Kids & Tech: Tips for Parents in the Digital Age

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​​In a world where children are "growing up digital," it's important to help them learn healthy concepts of digital use and citizenship. Parents play an important role in teaching these skills. Treat media as you would any other environment in your child's life. The same parenting guidelines apply in both real and virtual environments.

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Think Time: How Does Cyberbullying Affect You?

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Think Time: How Does Cyberbullying Affect You?

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Think Time: How Does Cyberbullying Affect You?

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Teens are among the leaders of Internet trends. The world is advancing so quickly that many of today's teens will find future careers in technologies that haven't been invented yet. Through the Think Time videos, you'll see why it's time for them to become more cyber savvy.

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The term digital citizenship has become fairly common in modern-day discourse and is now part of our reality. And yet, despite its importance, it still isn't widely taught in our schools.

In this guide, you'll learn everything you need to know about digital citizenship. I'll touch these essential topics:

Click on the link to go to your favourite part in the text.

What is digital citizenship?

According to Wikipedia "A digital citizen refers to a person utilizing information technology to engage in society, politics, and government." K. Mossberger defines digital citizens as "those who use the Internet regularly and effectively,".

I remember listening to a talk by the famous inventor and futurist, Ray Kurzweil, one day. He likened modern technology to an extension of various human body parts and functions. In a way, that's true. If, for example, a power drill is a specialized extension of our hands, then our phones and the internet are extensions of our brains. They are as much a part of us as our very personalities. We use them to think, when we Google solutions to our problems, to learn new things, and, with the advent of social media, to interact with the world at large.

With the internet occupying an ever-expanding role in our lives, it is necessary to prepare our children to live with it early enough. Our daily life is becoming ever more digitalized, and our children interact more and more with content, each other and social communities online.

Understanding the why of digital citizenship

To begin with, education itself is a social institution. It is all but one of the basic human needs at this point, right up there with food, shelter, and clothing. It is through the educational system that we impart our societal values into the next generation and mold them to be able to bring to fruition the better future we all envision.

It would, therefore, make sense that we would make better digital citizens of our young ones. And there are even more reasons to promote a good education in digital citizenship:

1. Technology gap

There is already a wide gap between the pace at which technology is moving and its rate of implementation in our curriculum. Of course, not all of these technologies will last, some of them being nothing more than fads, but there are many that will persist and are still as yet far ahead of our curriculum. The problem is that, despite being taught according to one set of paradigms at school, students live by a totally different set of paradigms. They are constantly devouring new technologies, and school should be a guiding light for them, showing them how to best survive in this ever-evolving world.

2. Digital footprint

It's fairly obvious that lots of colleges aren't just satisfied with your GPA anymore. They now look at your digital footprint. From your tweets to your Instagram and Facebook profiles, your online persona is just as important to your social reputation as your persona in the physical world. With a good education about how to create a healthy online profile early on, the current generation will be adequately prepared for the job market of tomorrow.

3. Multitasking epidemic

The internet has brought with it what some would consider a multitasking epidemic. Our children are getting better and better at shuffling between tabs and windows; texting and reading; tweeting and researching. And yet, just as multitasking becomes more prominent, so do the results of research showing that it isn't the most effective way to work. By teaching the importance of mindfulness and undivided attention to our kids early, and showing them how to better manage their time online, we will give them a better chance at excelling in their future academics, benefitting from, rather than losing to their digital pursuits.

The 9 elements of digital citizenship

According to digitalcitizenship.net, there are 9 elements, or themes, to digital citizenship. All of these should somehow be incorporated into a curriculum on digital citizenship, so we can teach our students some digital responsibilty.

1. Digital Access

Digital access is the principle of ensuring that everyone has access to digital resources. As a teacher, you will recognize that not all your students will have equal access to the digital resources you direct them to. Your goal should, therefore, be to help provide them with access to these digital resources so that they are on an equal footing with their peers.

2. Digital commerce

A significant part of commerce is conducted online today. This involves selling and buying both lawful and unlawful goods and services. That means that, while there will be obvious advantages to purchasing goods and pay for services online, there will also be dangers associated with coming into contact with illegal goods and services. As a teacher, you should teach your students to be discerning consumers in the digital economy.

3. Digital Communication

Communication has seen an explosion in bandwidth since the 19th century. Where we were limited in the methods with which we could communicate less than a century ago, we now have what seems like countless options to keep in touch with each other. It is possible to keep in touch with people who are close to us virtually every minute every day. And yet, with all these options, not all of us are well educated in the appropriate ways to use different communication channels. It is your duty as a teacher to ensure your students have enough education on ways to fully utilize the various avenues of communication available to them.

4. Digital Literacy

Despite a concerted effort by our education system to keep up with the burgeoning technological tools coming up every day, there is still a significant gap between what students learn to use in school and what workplaces are adopting as work tools. From videoconferencing to shared workspaces to information literacy, there is a need to bring our students up to speed with the technologies used in the workplace in order to make them more effective professionals in the future.

5. Digital Etiquette

Digital etiquette can be argued to be one of the most important themes of digital citizenship in the modern day. Most of us can quickly recognize inappropriate behavior when it is being perpetrated online, but there isn't any solid base of education on how to behave in a digital social situation. A better educated digital citizen will be able to apply the same standards of ethics online that they comfortably apply offline.

6. Digital Law

Digital law is all about how legally technology is used by members of the society. Just as thefts, damage to property and slander are crimes offline, so they are online. Our students need to be taught about digital law and encouraged to uphold it in their daily digital pursuits.

7. Digital Rights and Responsibilities

Just as we have rights and responsibilities offline, so do we have the same online. Such things as an individual's right to freedom of speech, privacy, and so on should be upheld online with the same sanctity as they are upheld offline. However, these rights come with attendant responsibilities that we must also uphold, such as respecting the rights of others to privacy and freedom of speech. In a well-developed digital society, these rights and responsibilities will work together to promote productivity.

8. Digital Health and Wellness

Such things as ergonomic considerations, the promotion of eye safety, and the prevention of internet addiction are just as important as all the others discussed here. A good course on digital citizenship will encourage your students to take care of their own health and psychological wellness as they engage with the internet.

9. Digital Security

Self-protection is as necessary in the online world as it is offline. Despite many laws governing our digital citizenship, there are still many individuals who will readily steal, damage, and slander online. As a teacher, you should teach your students to protect themselves against such individuals, taking precautions to safeguard their privacy, documents, and computer networks, whether at home or at school.

Together, these nine elements make for a complete digital citizenship course that will form productive digital students of the future.

The essentials to teach students digital responsibility

As you formulate a curriculum on digital citizenship, there are certain basics you should touch upon:

Privacy protection. This involves the use of strong passwords and the avoidance of interaction with strangers online.

Oversharing. Younger people are naturally more vulnerable and prone to self-revealing and oversharing online. A good course on digital citizenship should teach them what information it is appropriate to share online, and with whom.

Cyberbullying. As a growing phenomenon in schools, this new form of bullying can best be combatted by teaching our students how to effectively deal with it.

Positive footprints in the digital age. With the explosion of social media, it's important to teach our students the importance of crafting a positive online persona and show them how to do it through our digital citizenship programs.

Respectful communication online and voicing of one's own opinion. Netiquette is an important part of being a digital citizen and should be taught to our students from a young age.

Evaluating online information/website credibility. Digital citizenship literacy enables digital citizens to correctly curate informational content they find online and correctly evaluate the credibility of the websites from which they obtain their information.

Copyright and plagiarism issues. This involves teaching our students not to take the work of others and pass it off as their own. Showing them how to credit their sources will teach them to better uphold digital ethics by respecting the original work of others.

Consequences of non-abiding by digital rules. With the growth of legislation on digital crimes, our students should be taught where the line is on many issues involving digital conduct so that they can intimately understand the consequences of breaking these digital rules.

Tips to help you teach digital citizenship to your students

Incorporate digital citizenship lessons into daily studies. For example, after teaching on a particular topic in history, offer your students important links to credible sites where they can learn more about the topic. Remind them how to check the credibility of sites from which they obtain their information. When giving them assignments, particularly essay assignments, remind them to always credit their sources.

Educate yourself. Many educators feel like they don't know enough about digital citizenship themselves to be able to effectively teach it. You can look at the sources at the end of this article to learn some more about digital citizenship so you can be better at it.

Be a role model. Implement the very things you teach about digital citizenship so your students can emulate you.

Create a digital toolkit of "Dos and Don'ts" that you keep in site of your students at all times in order to ingrain the rules of digital ethics in them.

Engage with your students in debates and discussions regularly about real digital citizenship cases and issues to encourage them to explore and formulate their own opinions on the matter.

Work closely with parents and encourage them to be responsible digital citizens themselves. Work to prepare projects with your students that they can then present to their parents.

Align the activities with the grade of your students. You can find helpful tips for doing this here.

Sites and resources to learn about digital citizenchip

These resources help you both learn and teach the various aspects of digital citizenship in connection to the nine elements we discussed above. Go through them and familiarize yourself with as many aspects of digital citizenship as you can.

Digital Citizenship & K-12 Program by Common Sense Education - This is a full course on digital citizenship for the K-12 program with over 60 lesson plans differentiated by grade. If you're looking to craft a curriculum on digital citizenship for your class, this is a good place to start.

BeInternetAwesome with Google - This great project by Google is based on the fictional land of Interland, where your students get to learn to be fearless explorers of the internet. It's a fun way to learn digital citizenship that your students are bound to enjoy.

NetSmartKids - This website is part of a program by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. It's an educational program seeking to teach children between the ages of 5 and 17 to practise better safety online.

Digital Compass by Common Sense Media - This is an iPhone app designed as a choose-your-own-adventure game. It's designed for kids between 6th and 9th grade and aims at teaching them to navigate daily digital life.

Digital Passport - Digital Passport is another comprehensive online resource to help you craft your digital citizenship curriculum for 3rd to 5th graders. It contains a series of games and tests that home in on critical skills to help children maneuver through the digital world.

7 Deadly Digital Sins - This is an interactive website with confession videos representing the 7 deadly sins committed online. It's a pretty cool way of showing children in higher grades how easy it is to fall into the pitfalls of the online world.

BrainPop: Digital Citizenship - Brain Pop is the final comprehensive resource on this list. Some of the lessons are free while others have to be paid for. It's pretty cool, though, since you can do anything from playing games, completing quizzes, watching movies or coding, all to help learn the different lessons. It's a great way to get the message of digital citizenship.

Digital security resources and guides - This website has a guide with all the resourses you need to make sure you keep your privacy using the internet and other software programs. It might help you with setting up a safe digital classroom evironment for your students.

We are taught to be good citizens from a young age. It is intimately integrated into every aspect of our education. In the future, however, we will not only be physical citizens but digital ones as well. It, therefore, behooves us to make digital citizenship a part of our curriculum. Only then can we craft a digital future we will be proud of.

Share this blog post with your colleagues and spread the message!

About the author

Sophia Anderson is an associate educator, blogger and freelance writer at EduGeeksClub She is passionate about covering topics on learning, writing, business, careers, self-improvement, motivation and others. She believes in the driving force of positive attitude and constant development. Feel free to get in touch on Twitter.

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The ultimate teacher guide to teaching students digital citizenship

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The term digital citizenship has become fairly common in modern-day discourse and is now part of our reality. And yet, despite its importance, it still isn't widely taught in our schools. In this guide, you'll learn everything you need to know about digital citizenship.

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kidshealth.org
Teens and Internet-Safety 

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kidshealth.org
Teens and Internet-Safety 

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Whether it's protecting yourself from hackers or cyberbullies, these tips for teens will help you navigate the digital world safely.

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George Lucas Educational Foundation

Learn about online safety, cyberbullying, netiquette, privacy, copyright, and the norms of appropriate, responsible behavior to help young people consider their digital footprint.

A collection of articles, videos, and other resources on internet safety, cyberbullying, digital responsibility, and media and digital literacy.

This collection of blogs, articles, and videos aims to help educators deploy social-media tools to develop professionally, connect with parents and communities, and engage students in 21st-century learning.

Intrigued by game-based learning, but not sure where to begin?

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George Lucas Educational Foundation Learn about online safety, cyberbullying, netiquette, privacy, copyright, and the norms of appropriate, responsible behavior to help young people consider their digital footprint. A collection of articles, videos, and other resources on internet safety, cyberbullying, digital responsibility, and media and digital literacy.

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Are you being bullied? Do you see bullying at your school? There are things you can do to keep yourself and the kids you know safe from bullying.

Treat Everyone with Respect

Nobody should be mean to others.

Stop and think before you say or do something that could hurt someone.

If you feel like being mean to someone, find something else to do. Play a game, watch TV, or talk to a friend.

Talk to an adult you trust. They can help you find ways to be nicer to others.

Keep in mind that everyone is different. Not better or worse. Just different.

If you think you have bullied someone in the past, apologize. Everyone feels better.

What to Do If You're Bullied

There are things you can do if you are being bullied:

Look at the kid bullying you and tell him or her to stop in a calm, clear voice. You can also try to laugh it off. This works best if joking is easy for you. It could catch the kid bullying you off guard.

If speaking up seems too hard or not safe, walk away and stay away. Don't fight back. Find an adult to stop the bullying on the spot.

There are things you can do to stay safe in the future, too.

Talk to an adult you trust. Don't keep your feelings inside. Telling someone can help you feel less alone. They can help you make a plan to stop the bullying.

Stay away from places where bullying happens.

Stay near adults and other kids. Most bullying happens when adults aren't around.

Protect Yourself from Cyberbullying

Bullying does not always happen in person. Cyberbullying is a type of bullying that happens online or through text messages or emails. There are things you can do to protect yourself.

Always think about what you post. You never know what someone will forward. Being kind to others online will help to keep you safe. Do not share anything that could hurt or embarrass anyone.

Keep your password a secret from other kids. Even kids that seem like friends could give your password away or use it in ways you don't want. Let your parents have your passwords.

Think about who sees what you post online. Complete strangers? Friends? Friends of friends? Privacy settings let you control who sees what.

Keep your parents in the loop. Tell them what you're doing online and who you're doing it with. Let them friend or follow you. Listen to what they have to say about what is and isn't okay to do. They care about you and want you to be safe.

Talk to an adult you trust about any messages you get or things you see online that make you sad or scared. If it is cyberbullying, report it.

Stand Up for Others

When you see bullying, there are safe things you can do to make it stop.

Talk to a parent, teacher, or another adult you trust. Adults need to know when bad things happen so they can help.

Be kind to the kid being bullied. Show them that you care by trying to include them. Sit with them at lunch or on the bus, talk to them at school, or invite them to do something. Just hanging out with them will help them know they aren't alone.

Not saying anything could make it worse for everyone. The kid who is bullying will think it is ok to keep treating others that way.

Get Involved

You can be a leader in preventing bullying in your community.

Find out more about where and when bullying happens at your school. Think about what could help. Then, share your ideas. There is a good chance that adults don't know all of what happens. Your friends can go with you to talk to a teacher, counselor, coach, or parent and can add what they think.

Talk to the principal about getting involved at school. Schools sometimes give students a voice in programs to stop bullying. Be on a school safety committee. Create posters for your school about bullying. Be a role model for younger kids.

Write a blog, letter to the editor of your local newspaper, or tweet about bullying.

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Are you being bullied? Do you see bullying at your school? There are things you can do to keep yourself and the kids you know safe from bullying. Nobody should be mean to others. Stop and think before you say or do something that could hurt someone.