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Lesson objectives:
1. Students will be able to differentiate between personal and private information and what they should and should not share.
2. Students will be able to define cyberbullying.
3. Students will be able to present solutions to cyberbullying.

Pre-Assessment: Ask students for examples of what they think personal information is. Then ask students if they know what cyberbullying is. Reinforce class expectation of kindness and respect towards others. Ask students how they think they can be kind to others online. Begin a KWL chart as a class and discuss what students already know as well as what they want to learn about.

Lesson: Before the activity show students videos on cyberbullying and private vs. public information. During the cyberbullying video stop and ask students what they would do in the situations given. Ask multiple students to get various perspectives. While watching the video on online privacy ask students what posts the boy makes are safe and which ones are not. After each video discuss how the students feel after watching and ask them to tell the class something that they learned.

Activity: Students will participate in digital citizenship Jenga. This activity will feature a classic Jenga game but with each wooden block painted a different color. Each color will have a corresponding prompt on it that relates to digital citizenship.

Post-Assessment: Ask students what they learned while doing this activity. Complete KWL chart as a class and invite students to give examples of what they will do in the future to keep themselves safe online.

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Netiquette is the appropriate and adequate way to properly communicate on the internet. There are a set of rules that set the standards for what is appropriate on the internet. Netiquette combines the words network and etiquette, which shows represents what the proper etiquette is while using networks such as the internet.

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/netiquette

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Digital Citizenship has to do with responsibly using technology such as a computer or the internet while engaging with society. Being responsible on the internet is critical to being good digital citizen.

https://www.aeseducation.com/blog/what-is-digital-citizenship

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As a career readiness curriculum developer, we often hear from teachers who have questions about a variety of topics they are required to teach.

From soft skills to 21st Century skills, you have a lot of areas to include. And one of the most important ones is digital citizenship.

However, even with the increased focus on teaching this subject, there isn't much direction for career readiness instructors about what they are actually supposed to cover.
In this article, you'll discover answers to the most common questions teachers ask about digital citizenship:

1. What is digital citizenship?

2. What concepts does digital citizenship include?

3. How can you teach digital citizenship?

You'll also learn where you can find digital citizenship lessons to teach these crucial concepts and skills!

What Is Digital Citizenship?
Digital citizenship refers to the responsible use of technology by anyone who uses computers, the Internet, and digital devices to engage with society on any level.
As the rate of technological advancement continues to increase, the world as a whole is becoming more dependent on the Internet for day-to-day activities. That makes this a crucial topic to teach today's students.

Good digital citizenship for students engages them and shows them how to connect with one another, empathize with each other, and create lasting relationships through digital tools.

Bad digital citizenship, on the other hand, entails cyberbullying, irresponsible social media usage, and a general lack of knowledge about how to safely use the Internet.

Fortunately, almost all of the requirements to be a good digital citizen can be taught in the classroom.

What Concepts Does Digital Citizenship Include?
If you want to teach this subject, you'll want to focus on seven key concepts:

1. Empathy

2. How the Internet works

3. Understanding user data

4. Practicing digital literacy

5. Acknowledging the digital divide

6. Practicing digital wellness

7. Securing digital devices

These seven topics may sound complex, but they're surprisingly simple once you start planning.

1. Empathy

When you want to teach students how to be good digital citizens, teaching empathy is a great starting point.

This is because empathy is crucial to understanding how people talk and behave online.

Because Internet use relies largely on text-based communications, it's impossible to hear someone's vocal tone, see their facial expressions, or understand other non-verbal cues that you get when you're speaking to someone face-to-face.

As a result, it's incredibly easy for Internet users to make quick, harsh judgments about someone's statements online.

That means Internet users (including your students) can trade quick verbal or text-based blows that are intended to hurt someone's feelings instead of carrying on a typical conversation that you may hear over a phone call or face to face.

In the worst cases, this kind of behavior can devolve into cyberbullying, which has been documented as an especially bad problem for younger Internet users.

This is why teaching empathy has the potential to make an enormous difference in your students' lives.

How Do You Teach Empathy?

Teaching empathy is a challenge. After all, how do you teach something that many still consider to be an inborn factor of someone's psyche and attitude?

In fact, empathy is as simple to teach as any other concept.

Graduate Programs for Educators, for instance, has an article detailing several helpful strategies you can use to teach empathy in your classroom.

With these strategies in your repertoire of lessons, you'll be off to a strong start in teaching your students how to empathize with others online!

However, this is just the start.

After you teach empathy, you have to teach students how the Internet works.

2. How the Internet Works
The Internet is an incredible network of interconnected servers and computers that direct web browser requests through a network of wired and wireless connections.
While that's a vague explanation, the fact is that the Internet has gotten so large and complex that it's a challenge to be any more specific about it!

Fortunately, you can view a simplified explanation of the Internet in this infographic from WebFX.

So why is this important for students to understand?

The Internet is so fast and responsive that it's almost mind-blowing to consider all of the processes that have to happen behind the scenes just for someone to check their email.

But only a small percentage of people in the world - including students -actually understandwhat those processes are. Even fewer understand how those processes work!

When you show students that the Internet works via a sophisticated interconnection of digital tools, you set the stage to help them understand the next key elements of being good digital citizens.

How Do You Teach How the Internet Works?

Study.com has a great lesson on how the Internet works, and it's specifically designed for younger students.

This lesson focuses on networking (digital machines all linked together by the Internet) and hardware (the actual machines themselves).

It also includes concepts such as communication, central processing units, hard drives, computers, and more.

With this lesson, you can show students the basics of how the Internet functions so that they can increase their digital literacy!

3. Understanding User Data
User data is one of the most complex and concerning concepts in the digital age.
Just about every company with a website collects data on the people who visit it. That data may be as simple as the pages that someone views, and it could be as complex as someone's home address.

Most of the websites on the Internet use this information for marketing purposes. It helps them understand their customers a little bit better, and it helps companies connect with people in a meaningful way.

However, other websites use this opportunity maliciously. They may "mine" someone's web browser for their search history. They might also attach a "cookie," or unique identifier, to someone's web browser to see the other websites they visit.

Then, many of these companies take this data, package it together, and sell it to the highest bidder.

While almost every country has laws dictating that companies can't collect data on individuals younger than 18 (or 13 in some places), the fact of the matter is that it happens anyway.

As a result, your students need to know about personal data - and they need to know how they can protect themselves!

How Do You Teach Students About User Data?

Teaching user data is hard because very few outlets actuallyaddressuser data in the first place. In fact, it's such a new phenomenon - and its use is typically a closely-guarded secret - that many teachers may not evenknowabout it, much less be in a position to teach students.

Fortunately, you can teach students about user data by focusing on your students'digital footprints.

A "digital footprint" is the mark that someone's web browser leaves on the Internet.

Whenever you go to any website, you're tracked by some software that sees your "footprint." Then, when you return, that same software matches up your previous footprint with your current website visit. The result is that websites know who you are, how many times you've visited their website, and what you've done while visiting.

Some organizations - like Facebook and Google - may even track your Internet behavior outside of their websites.

Whether it's legal, ethical, or practical is unfortunately not currently debated in mainstream society.

However, that's all the more reason to teach your students that they're almost always being watchedwhen they're using the Internet.

4. Practicing Digital Literacy
Digital literacy is the practice of reading information online and understanding what it means, where it originated, and whether it's accurate.
As a result, digital literacy is one of the hardest concepts to teach to students. It's also one of the most important qualities for students to become good digital citizens!

After all, how can they practice good digital citizenship if they can't discern accurate information from misinformation online?

A solid digital literacy curriculum includes learning about ethics, protecting yourself online, and even preventing cyberbullying.

It's a lot to pack into a single subject - but it's essential for students in 21st Century classrooms.

How Do You Practice Digital Literacy?

Teaching digital literacy requires a lot of planning, finesse, and review to ensure your students understand what they need to know about the digital world.

Fortunately, companies from around the world offer digital literacy curriculum likelessons, activities, and assessments.

Still, if you're looking for the summary version of digital literacy, you can wrap it up in three concepts.

Clickbait

Clickbait refers to any text, headline, video title, etc. that's deliberately written to pique someone's interest and get them to click.

Generally speaking, clickbait is written by organizations that want to get people to their website so they can show ads and earn revenue. It's also used by malicious website owners who want to infect individuals' computers with malware.

In short, the rule of thumb is not to click a link or a video with a title that makes someone feel outrage. This is a hard urge to fight, but it can make the difference between good digital citizenship for students or having their computers infected with viruses!

Even worse, your students could click an article that delivers fake news to them.

Fake News

Fake news is a relatively new phenomenon. It refers to any media outlet publishing severely biased or intentionally false information.

Fake news is most often used with clickbait titles to get readers and alter people's opinions with ineffective claims or outright lies. It's also a key part of any information literacy curriculum.

In essence, if students ever read something that sounds incredibly skewed to one ideology over another, it's fake news. The same goes for any piece that's written by admittedly biased entertainment sources, tabloids, gossip websites, rumor mills, or social media posts.

As a general rule, if your students ever see an unflattering image of someone with text plastered at the top and / or bottom, you can safely assume it's fake news and best left ignored.

Empathy

It may look a little funny to talk about this again, but empathy is actually a big part of teaching digital literacyanddigital citizenship for students.

This is because a successful digital literacy curriculum requires students to think beneath the face-value text that they're reading online. Instead, they need empathy to truly understand the information they're absorbing.

This makes students question a writer's motivations behind something they see posted on social media. It may also prompt students to reach out with words of comfort to someone who they see in distress online.

Regardless of how it's applied, there's no wrong way to go when you're teaching empathy.

Incidentally, empathy is also key to the next element of digital citizenship for students.

5. Acknowledging the Digital Divide
The digital divide is the disparity between those who have access to modern digital tools (like computers and the Internet) and those who don't.
This is important to recognize because the Internet is still very much aluxuryin the world, even in the United States!

Access to computers and the Internet is still restricted by finance in every part of the world, meaning that those in poverty don't have the same level of access as those who have disposable income.

While Americans may think that this mostly applies to individuals living in third-world countries, the truth is far grimmer. Only 75.23% of Americans have Internet access, with a full 24.77% living without access.

In addition, 20% of Americans live in the Midwest where Internet access is most scarce, meaning that the infrastructure exists for a fair amount of Americans in that 24.77% who don't use the Internet.

Unfortunately, that means the remaining Americans in that percentage simply can't afford Internet access.

Some schools will have a disproportionately high quantity of those students. Others may have none at all.

But if your students aren't aware of the digital divide, then they may end up assuming that all students have equal access to the Internet - which is patently false.

At the same time, you don't want to ask students who don't have home Internet access to identify themselves to illustrate this point. That's embarrassing, and it could end up having a negative impact on your classroom.

So how can you introduce students to such a strange topic without isolating students in your class?

How Do You Acknowledge the Digital Divide?

The International Publisher of Information Science and Technology Researchsupplies dozens of different resources you can use to learn more about the digital divide.

Some of these resources are appropriate for the classroom. Others may only work for older students in high school.

The key is to find the information you need - even if it's just informing your students that some people are fortunate enough to have more than others - and bring it to the forefront of your class.

6. Practicing Digital Wellness
Digital wellness is the practice of refraining from indulging in the Internet and digital media for reasonable amounts of time.
In other words, it's the practice of knowing when to "take a break" from screens.

Digital wellness is important because too much screen time can have adverse effects on students.

Adrian F. Ward of the University of Colorado performed a full study on this topic and discovered that screen time can impact transactive memory, empathy, and even grey matter development in young minds.

So, strangely enough, the best way to practice digital wellness is to leave digital devices for a few hours every day!

How Do You Practice Digital Wellness?

When you teach digital wellness, you can use a combination of health information, psychology, neurology, and current events to illustrate why it's important to take time away from devices.

Teaching moderation, the importance of exercise,and even nutritioncan all play a big role in helping students understand why it's important to practice digital wellness.

7. Securing Digital Devices
The final element of becoming a good digital citizen is securing digital devices.
This is the perfect capstone to your digital citizenship curriculum because it takes everything students have learned and applies it to real-life scenarios.

You've shown students how the importance of empathy. You've shown them how the Internet works. You've even shown them why they need to use digital devices in moderation.

What's left in this equation? Well, students need to know how they can secure their computers, smartphones, and more.

You could fill an entire semester just talking about network security - which some schools do.

So how do you teachthis?

How Do You Teach Digital Device Security?

The Tech Edvocate has a great how-to article on the ways you can teach digital security to K-12 students. You can read this article and translate it to a point-by-point syllabus almost verbatim and you'll have several successful digital citizenship lessons.

However, they miss a few things that you should talk about.

First, there's smartphone security. Ensure your students know how to lock and change their smartphone codes or identification patterns.

If they use facial recognition, ensure they don't post similar photos of their faces online.

(Yes, this can work. Facial recognition software is unfortunately imperfect.)

Second, teach students about VPNs.You can read a bit about VPNs from Privacy Affairs, which provides an article talking about what VPNs are and how to set them up.

Basically, VPNs place a protective shell around your students' data as it travels throughout the Internet. Not even Internet service providers (ISPs) can crack it, although the VPN provider can still decode what you're doing.

The principles of VPNs are based around security, privacy, and the idea that companies aren't entitled to steal your online data.

When you and your students use one, you're adding an extra layer of protection to your online presence that can make the difference between a carefree life online and identity theft.

Finally, you can talk about antivirus software. Antivirus software comes in many forms and names, but it all does the same general task - keeping your possessions and information safe from those who would steal it.

All of this information acts like an extra padlock that you attach to a treasure chest. The more locks your students have on their personal information, the harder it is for anyone to steal it!

With all of this in mind, there's one final question we still have to answer.

There's so much here, and there's so much that you can teach your students with the right digital citizenship curriculum.

So where do you even start?

How Can You Teach Digital Citizenship?

Overall, there's no best way to teach digital citizenship. Some teachers pull digital citizenship lessons and activities from various places to build their course, while others prefer using a comprehensive digital citizenship curriculum.

If you're looking for a few supplemental resources, check out this list of digital citizenship lessons for middle school.
But If you're interested in a more robust digital citizenship curriculum, consider iCEV.
iCEV is a comprehensive CTE curriculum system designed to prepare students for career success. You can use iCEV to teach digital citizenship, digital responsibility, career development, professionalism, and much more.

To learn more about iCEV and if it's right for your program, check out the Middle School Digital Literacy and Career Exploration Curriculum page :

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What Is Digital Citizenship & How Do You Teach It?

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Have you heard the term digital citizenship? Discover what it means and how you can teach it to help your students succeed!

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Relationship between Netiquette and Digital Citizenship 

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Relationship between Netiquette and Digital Citizenship 

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Netiquette and digital citizenship are strongly intertwined with minor differences. The difference between the two is that digital citizenship is behaving appropriately on the internet while netiquette is how to properly do that. In order to have good digital citizenship, you must follow the rules of netiquette to accurately be a good digital citizen. Netiquette sets the foundation of rules that should be applied on behave accordingly on the internet, which in terms creates digital citizenship.

http://virtualmethodologies.weebly.com/digital-citizenship-and-netiquette.html

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Objective: Students will be able to identify and define netiquette and digital citizenship through the use of pictures.

Pre-Assessment: Ask students if they have ever heard of the terms netiquette and digital citizenship. Ask students how they think they should behave on the internet.

Lesson: Before having students do an activity, teach students what the definitions are for netiquette and digital citizenship. Show examples of pictures of netiquette and the rules associated with it. Show video on netiquette and digital citizenship. Provide examples of both appropriate and non-appropriate actions on the internet and explain why certain actions are appropriate and certain actions are not. Explain how in order to be a good digital citizen, you must follow the rules of netiquette.

Activity: Have students draw a picture of what they picture in their heads when they hear the words netiquette and digital citizenship. When done, give students the opportunity to share their picture and explain why they drew what they drew.

Post-assessment: Provide examples of actions on the internet and ask students if they follow the rules of netiquette.

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I have never heard about the concepts of netiquette and digital citizenship. After researching these topics, there are many things that I have learned. I previously knew how to act on the internet, what is appropriate and what is not but I was never taught that and had to learn through mistakes and watching others. Prior to my research, the only thing that came to my mind when thinking about how to behave on the internet was to not say offensive things to others. I learned that there are many other aspects associated with these topics such as not plagiarizing, not posting your address, not posting others information, etc. Cyberbullying was something I have never participated in and was the only aspect of being good digital citizen that I was thoroughly taught about throughout my education. I learned how important it is to educate students of all ages on these topics because although I was lucky enough to be a good digital citizen and follow the rules of having adequate etiquette on the internet, not everyone knows how to properly act naturally. I have witnessed others being cyberbullied, posting things that could potentially hurt them in the future, and inappropriate things. The people I have have witnessed doing this received their education at the same place I received mine, where we were only taught about cyberbullying. I believe if my peers were educated on how to properly use the internet and were taught the rules of netiquette, these situations could have been avoided.
I never considered educating students on these topics until I educated myself on them. Although I knew how to act on the internet, not everyone does and teaching children starting from the very beginning on their education career can help form good digital citizens. My research has confirmed that as a teacher, it is important to educate your students on the proper way to behave and navigate the internet because no everyone naturally knows proper etiquette or has someone at home to help them learn how to behave on the internet.

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Why it is important to learn about and practice netiquette and being a good digital citizen at all ages.

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Why it is important to learn about and practice netiquette and being a good digital citizen at all ages.

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Learning about netiquette and practicing being a good digital citizen is important for children of all ages for many different reasons. In order to know how to behave properly and safely on the internet, they must know the do's and dont's of the internet. Providing students with this information from the earliest age possible and help build good digital citizens. Teaching them to not cyberbully, and what exactly cyberbullying is can have a great affect on students and help prevent cyberbullying to occur. Teaching students the importance of not sharing personal information from a young age can help prevent them doing it in the future. Showing students what can be considered fishing can help prevent their information from being leaked. All these reasons are why is it important to start at the earliest age possible because the earlier you learn it, the more engraved in your mind it will be.

https://www.goguardian.com/blog/5-reasons-to-teach-digital-citizenship-this-school-year

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5 Reasons to Teach Digital Citizenship in the Classroom | GoGuardian

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Digital citizenship helps students with their social emotional well-being and information literacy, and it helps them develop healthy relationships. Read more!

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S is for safe: Never give out personal information online.
M is for materials: only visit instructed websites.
A is for accept: do not accept any files, emails, or messages from anyone you do not know.
R is for reliable: make sure you double-check information. Not everything you read on the internet is true.
T is for Tell: tell an adult you trust if someone or something online makes you feel uncomfortable.

https://onlinesense.org/internet-safety-rules-smart-online/

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Are there any internet safety rules you have to follow at home or in your school? Do you think about any of the tips your parents and teachers tell you to use while using your smart phone?

Internet safety rules can be annoying to hear at times. However, they are important in helping you. The Internet is always changing, and there are always new and better ways for how to be safe online.

These 5 S.M.A.R.T. internet safety rules are the fundamentals you need to keep in mind while online.

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5 Internet Safety Rules: Think S.M.A.R.T. Online

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Are there any internet safety rules you have to follow at home or in your school? Do you think about any of the tips your parents and teachers tell you to use while using your smart phone? Internet safety rules can be annoying to hear at times.

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DO’S:
1. act politely online and be respectful of others.
2. only use instructed websites.

DON’TS
1. share your personal information online.
2. do not respond to bullies, tell an adult.

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Act politely online and be respectful of others

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Act politely online and be respectful of others

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When posting anything online or talking to your friends online it is important to be kind to everyone. It is important to avoid saying things that can make somebody upset.

It is important to be respectful online because cyberbullying is becoming more of an issue. It is important to be mindful of what you are saying and how it can be interpreted. Maybe you need to word something differently so it does not come across as mean. Words hurt even if they are just on a screen.

https://www.avast.com/c-netiquette#topic-2

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This Article Contains:

Humans are social creatures, and while understanding cultural norms comes naturally in our physical environments, it can be harder in digital spaces. But online messaging platforms and the rise of social media have led to an implicit agreement on global communication standards. Even "digital natives" - those immersed in digital tech from birth - can benefit from a crash course in internet manners.

Your digital footprint is as real as your actual footprint. And with online tracking technology, it can be traced just as easily. Netiquette helps you prevent identity theft and other types of cybercrime by safeguarding your personal information and protecting your communications. Netiquette also helps you book appointments more smoothly, develop relationships more effectively, and find information more quickly.

Top 10 netiquette rules

We're all new to internet etiquette, and wading into a sea of strangers can feel scary. Parents feel even more pressure to mitigate harm from social media, constantly wondering if platforms like Snapchat are safe for kids. Getting one of the best browsers for privacy can help protect your online activity, but learning the rules of netiquette is the key to online safety - you might even net an internet friend.

Here are the 10 basic rules of netiquette:

1. Represent yourself well

Self-presentation is crucial online, because of the lack of visual cues. Your word and punctuation choices matter, so make every stroke count. To make friends or develop networks, be friendly, polite, and engaging- just as you would be in real life.

Use respectful language

All caps = yelling. Generally avoid it. Using all lowercase is fine on social media platforms or forums as long as you're consistent - just don't go back and forth between all lowercase and proper capitalization. In professional settings, use proper capitalization (and proper grammar more generally).

Don't curse if you're trying to have a productive conversation - it comes across as intense no matter your intention. Use neutral words and avoid those that might cause offense - your values and background might be different from the person you're speaking to.

If a stranger contacts you randomly and the communication feels suspicious or unnatural, you may be getting scammed. Report any internet scams you come across.

Be careful with sarcasm

Sarcasm relies on tone of voice, body language, facial expression, and gesture - all are omitted when communicating online. A well-intended joke can be perceived as confusing or downright insulting without clarity. To make your sarcasm clearer, use "irony punctuation" or emojis that contradict the statement, italics to emphasize tone, "jk" for "just kidding," or even an explicit "/s" at the end of your comment.

Using aLtErNaTiNg capitalization to indicate sarcasm has also become vogue in some internet circles.

Check your grammar

Friends might not care about proper grammar, but employers and colleagues do. Avoid heavy slang, unusual acronyms, abbreviations, alternate spellings, and other internet shorthand when communicating in a professional capacity. Though it may seem more natural to communicate this way online, it can come across as impatient and immature in professional settings.

2. Respect other people's privacy

Digital privacy is just as important as physical privacy. Confirm with the sender before forwarding an email to someone else - they may have intended it for your eyes only. The Bcc (Blind Carbon Copy) option hides email addresses from recipients, so use it in mass emails if you're unsure of the group's social dynamics.

Spreading someone's email around can also cause them to get spam, which no one likes. Ask someone before tagging them in your social media posts. No one wants an unflattering photo spread among people they don't know, and some people might be social-media shy in general. Posting without consent can be a huge breach of someone's privacy and security.

Don't share anyone's social media contact without their consent either - treat it like you would someone's phone number. Doxxing someone is a serious offense, but you can also doxx people by accident if you aren't careful.

3. If you wouldn't say it directly, don't say it online

Whether you're communicating with strangers or friends, don't let your emotions do the talking online. Interacting behind a screen can make you feel invincible, and can remove your social filter in the worst possible way. It's easy to be blunt, rude, or aggressive when your words appear as squiggles on a screen. But those squiggles cause real pain, and can easily turn you into a troll, or worse, a cyberbully.

4. Follow the rules

Just like real-life hangouts, every internet subculture has their own core rules and definitions of netiquette. If the rules are implicit, ask around or "lurk" (read without posting) for a while to get the feel for the proper netiquette policy. If the rules are explicit, they'll be posted somewhere clearly. Rules might include acceptable topics to discuss, formatting procedures, link policies, or just a general code of behavior.

Netiquette tip: Good netiquette in one forum may be bad netiquette in another.

5. Fact check

It's embarrassing to get facts wrong, and it can cause others to stop trusting you or stop communicating with you completely. Getting accurate information is a hard-wired human preference, and being misinformed can really hit a nerve. Research thoroughly before making factual claims online. Some quick googling and linking to source websites builds trust with others.

Fact-checking works the other way too. Always verify what others claim to be true and learn to evaluate their sources. Keep yourself safe and learn how to spot fake apps and programs, fake news, and other false information online.

6. Respect people's time and boundaries

The exciting urge to share something is natural, but sending long YouTube videos or articles to others constantly can be imposing. Pick and choose your moments, or explain why you feel the other person might enjoy it. Don't take it personally if the person doesn't check it out or report back - instead, consider they may have other preferences or might simply be too busy.

It might feel good to blurt out a wall of text or call someone out for a perceived wrong, but it's often the equivalent of stopping someone on the street and lecturing them on the spot. Not only is it awkward, but it makes the recipient feel pressured and frustrated. Online communication is usually not a good place to discuss serious feelings - taking an emotional shortcut can make a real relationship crash and burn.
You wouldn't stop a stranger in real life and yell at them, so you shouldn't do it online either.
7. Respond as promptly as you can

It's annoying when someone expects you to respond to a text or email immediately, but it's just as annoying when you write to someone and they take forever to respond, or don't reply at all. If you have exchanged emails with someone, the expectation is that email correspondence is OK, so not responding can be hurtful or rude.

If the other person writes a particularly long message, tell them you'll respond soon - don't simply ignore the message. If you're uncomfortable with long exchanges, say so and the other person should adapt. If you don't like the pressure of someone knowing you've already seen their message, you can turn off the chat receipts in most messaging apps.

8. Keep your information up to date

Update your profile information, especially if you're not in contact with lots of old friends or acquiantances. A simple update is a nice way to show you care about those you may have lost touch with. It can open the door to catching up with old friends, or be a good reason for someone to send you a friendly message or networking opportunity.

If you own a physical business with an online presence, keep your hours of operation accurate. Most people rely on Google or other services to organize their visits, and inaccurate information can lead to a bad review or a lost customer. Anyone visiting your website will assume the information is current, so if you need to update anything important, and it will take a while to do so, add a note to the top explaining what you're doing.

9. Send files properly

Don't send or attach large files directly, since you never know what kind of storage space or internet connection other people have. Use a cloud service or a personal site, especially if you want to share lots of files. If you have to send sensitive files, use some of the best encryption software to keep them safe. And protect files with a password to show the recipient you care about their digital safety.

Don't share inappropriate material and consider the recipients and their expectations accordingly. Online etiquette for students, especially when file sharing, is especially important - sharing the wrong file in the wrong place can get you in big trouble.

If only a small section of your YouTube link is relevant, make sure to timestamp it with YouTube's "share" setting so you don't waste the recipient's time. If you want to share a meme or picture, don't make the person click an additional link - post it directly in the chat window. And if you're sending a clip from a new show or film, give a spoiler warning, for goodness sake!

10. Be forgiving

One of the most important netiquette rules is to forgive others' mistakes. Internet technology netiquette norms can be confusing - we all learn web etiquette as we go along. What we say online feels permanent, which makes us all uneasy. No one wants a rushed, misinterpreted statement hanging over their heads forever, so have compassion for others if you want it extended to yourself.

Why are netiquette guidelines important?

Learning the social rules of the internet keeps us all happy, and learning to forgive keeps us all safer and helps develop greater understanding. Guidelines for interacting online will continue to evolve, and setting a proper netiquette example for others can help build an online world where everyone is treated respectfully.

Keep your privacy with Avast Secure Browser

These days, it feels like everything you do ends up online, so keeping your privacy in your own hands is more important than ever. Learning the social rules of the web can keep you safe, but for increased privacy for all your online activity, use a secure browser.

Avast Secure Browser includes a suite of features, like a built-in VPN and anti-fingerprinting technology, to keep your communications hidden and ensure iron-clad privacy online.

Stop worrying about who can see your online activity. Keep snoops from sneaking up on you with Avast Secure Browser's array of built-in privacy features. Keep advertisers off your back, disguise your browsing behavior, and block untrusted sites and downloads - all for free.

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This Article Contains: Humans are social creatures, and while understanding cultural norms comes naturally in our physical environments, it can be harder in digital spaces. But online messaging platforms and the rise of social media have led to an implicit agreement on global communication standards.

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It is important to keep your personal information private on the internet. Some things you might not want to share include:
- your name
- any personal ID number (student id, drivers license, etc.)
- address
- phone numbers
- your school/teachers name
- your age
- your birthday

If people have access to your personal information they might use it to pretend to be you. They also might gain access to financial information and steal money. There also may be dangerous people in the world who will use your personal information to find you

https://www.reputationdefender.com/blog/privacy/top-ten-reasons-keep-your-personal-information-private

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If you think your personal information is secure, think again. Keeping your information safe is now the exception, not the rule. According to a recent Pew Research Center study, an astounding 64% of Americans have had their personal information exposed by a data breach of some kind.

Of this group:

41% experienced fraudulent credit card charges.

35% had important information (such as an account number) compromised.

16% had their email accounts hacked.

13% had someone else take control of their social media account.

15% had their Social Security number revealed.

14% had someone try to take out lines of credit or loans in their name.

6% had an impostor file fraudulent tax returns under their name.

Unfortunately, there are unscrupulous people on the Internet who are looking to take advantage of you. As such, it's important to learn what kinds of information these individuals are looking for and how they can use your data to harm you. More importantly, you need to know how to protect yourself by guarding your information online.

What type of information should you protect?

The most important type of information to keep private is personally identifiable information (PII).

According to the U.S. General Services Administration, PII is "Information that can be used to distinguish or trace an individual's identity, either alone or when combined with other personal or identifying information that is linked or linkable to a specific individual."

Some examples of PII are:

Names: Your full name, your maiden name, and your mother's maiden name

Personal ID numbers: Your social security number, driver's license number, passport number, patient ID number, taxpayer ID number, credit account number, or financial account number

Addresses: Your street address and email address

Biometrics: Retina scans, fingerprints, facial geometry, or voice signatures

Vehicle ID or title numbers

Phone numbers

Technology asset information: Media Access Control (MAC) or Internet Protocol (IP) addresses that are tied to a certain individual

While this list may seem exhaustive, it doesn't cover all the personal information you need to protect. You also need to worry about what you post (and what others post about you) on social media and other sharing sites, because these things serve as clues to your true identity when combined with the PII in the previous list.

Why you should keep your personal information private

Securing your personal information can help you:

1. Prevent identity theft

Identity theft occurs when someone gains access to your personal information and pretends to be you online. Individuals who have accessed your personal data can retrieve your login information for various websites or commit cyber crimes such as tax fraud, all while posing as you. Identity theft is the type of crime that can have long-lasting repercussions for both your digital privacy and your online reputation.

According to a report by Javelin Strategy & Research, a record 16.7 million people experienced identity theft in 2017, and this number is likely to increase as the Internet becomes an even bigger part of our daily lives. However, you can lower the odds of experiencing identity theft by reducing the amount of information you provide:

Only fill out required fields: When you must fill out a profile or online form to use a product or service, only fill out the fields that are absolutely necessary and offer as few details about yourself as possible.

Never give your personal information to anyone who calls you on the phone or who sends you an email requesting your data: If you receive an email from a company you do business with, don't click on any links or attachments. Doing so might download a virus that could scan your entire computer and transmit all your data back to criminals. Instead, contact the company the email is supposedly from to verify that it sent the email.

Opt out of data-broker (or "people-search") sites: For step-by-step instructions on how to do this, see our article How to remove yourself from the top people-search sites.

Don't carry your Social Security Card with you: Keep it in a secure place to make it less likely to get stolen.

Wipe old devices before you discard them: Someone could easily access valuable personal data about you on old computers, tablets, or phones.

2. Protect your financial information

Cyber criminals can take your banking information and make unauthorized withdrawals, purchases, and transfers. Although financial websites are encrypted, there are still steps you should take to ensure your money is as safe as possible:

Don't share your banking information with anyone: It's very easy for someone to withdraw money from your account if they know your bank account and routing numbers. When you are making a payment and have a choice between using your bank account number or a credit card number, always choose the credit card because it has fraud protection features that your bank account doesn't.

Use strong passwords: The two most popular passwords for 2018 were "123456" and "password." Don't make this mistake. A strong password should contain at least 12 characters; include numbers, symbols, and capital letters; not be a dictionary word; and not rely on obvious substitutions like "H0use."

Enable 2-factor authentication: This added step of typing in a secret code that is sent to your email when you attempt to log in can help you protect all your accounts.

Only log in to online banking when you're on your protected network at home: If you are using an unsecured Wi-Fi connection, then other people can easily access your information. Wired connections are best, but if you must log in when you're out and about, use your cellular network instead. While thieves can still get into these networks, they're much harder to hack into than Wi-Fi networks are.

Only make online purchases from secure sites: Look for the "S" after the "http" in the website's address. This means that the site is protected by Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption. You should also check for a trust icon (like a padlock symbol) on the site that has the words "Secure" or "Verified" on it. Click the icon to see if it takes you to a verification page. If it doesn't, then it's a fake.

Never save your payment information online: According to a study by CreditCards.com, roughly 100 million Americans store their credit or debit card information in an app or on a website to make future purchases more convenient. However, having your financial data on a website makes it easier for hackers to shop there too.

Check ATMs and gas pumps for skimming devices: In 2017, the number of compromised point-of-sale devices and ATMs rose nearly 10 percent. Before you insert your card, be sure to examine the card reader to see if it looks odd in any way. Criminals can 3D-print new keyboards to insert over the original. They might not match the rest of the device or might have overly large keys. You should also wiggle the card reader to see if any parts are loose.

3. Avoid being robbed

Most residential burglaries occur during daylight hours, when people are at school or work, because it's easier to steal your stuff if you aren't there. Consequently, you can avoid being a target if you don't advertise the fact that your house is vacant. Common ways to do this include setting timers to automatically turn on lamps at night, putting a temporary stop on your mail, and arranging for a neighbor to collect your newspapers and packages.

Another important way to protect your belongings is to avoid posting any information about your vacation plans on social media. Of course, it's hard not to share the news when you are excited about an upcoming trip. But when you tell your Facebook friends that you will be going to Spain in August, for example, you are essentially letting thieves know the best time to rob your home. As such, it's better to wait until you have safely returned to post all those amazing photos of your trip.

4. Protect your employability

Nearly 100 percent of employers do background checks on potential employees, and these investigations examine your social media profiles, as well as data from public records available online. To avoid damaging your online reputation, and thus sabotaging your career, you should remove any personal information that might negatively influence a prospective employer:

Don't share anything on social media that others might view as controversial: This means you should avoid discussing politics and religion, and avoid complaining about your current job.

Correct any errors in your background check information: You need to get rid of any mistakes or misleading information that might prejudice a potential employer against you. For steps on how to do this, see our article How to correct errors in employment background checks.

5. Maintain your business's reputation

If you own a business, you have even more reasons to worry about data privacy. A single data breach costs American businesses an average of $7 million, taking into account the firm's direct financial loss, business disruption, regulatory fines, and credit monitoring and identity theft repair services. In addition to these costs, failing to protect your customers' personal data can destroy people's trust in your brand, and trust is a key factor in consumers' purchasing decisions.

To safeguard your customers' personal information (and thus your company's reputation), you should:

Remove key employees' personal information from the Internet: This makes it harder for hackers to customize spear-phishing attacks (in which criminals send emails to individuals in an attempt to get certain information from them) or guess the answers to security questions to gain access to your systems. One way to automate this process is to use ReputationDefender's ExecutivePrivacy for Cybersecurity product.

Encrypt your data: Make sure you have transitioned to Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption, which allows you to transmit sensitive information, such as login credentials and credit card numbers, securely between a client, like a web browser, and a server.

6. Protect your freedom of thought

If you knew that someone was watching you, would you act differently? Yes, you would. People try harder to be "good" when they think they're being watched. This is known as the " Hawthorne Effect."

As such, when you realize that other people are following all of your online activities, you won't explore websites that might contain ideas that are outside of the mainstream for fear that someone might find out and judge you for this behavior. Knowing that you're being tracked effectively inhibits your freedom of thought.

To protect your freedom of thought:

Source: imgur user scb123

7. Gain admission to the school of your choice

In much the same way that your social network status updates and tweets can prevent you from gaining a new job, they can also damage any chances you or your loved ones have of gaining admission to college. Recruiters and admissions clerks search for applicants online, often judging them solely on what they've posted on social media.

To increase the odds of receiving an acceptance letter from the college of your choice:

Audit your social media profiles: Go over all of your accounts and delete anything that might portray you in a negative light. You should also ask your friends to search for and remove any incriminating images or comments about you on their accounts.

Think twice before you post: Even after auditing your social media accounts, some of your posts will still be floating around the Internet for people to find. Therefore, the best approach is to not post anything that might harm your online reputation in the first place.

8. Keep your insurance

As part of their risk-assessment procedures, life and health insurance companies research potential and current customers' digital footprints. This means that all of your online activities, such as what types of things you purchase and which groups you associate with, can affect your ability to obtain coverage and whether or not a company will pay out on a claim.

As such, it's imperative that you secure your personal data. See how in our article How to protect your online data from insurance companies.

9. Defend yourself in legal proceedings

What you share online can be used against you in court. In one instance, a man sued for a workplace injury. However, his Facebook posts later revealed that he had hurt his knee while fishing. Another case involves a man involved in divorce proceedings who lost custody of his son because of threatening messages he posted online.

To maintain credibility in court and increase the odds of winning your case, you should avoid posting anything that might cause a juror to doubt your claims or that makes you look bad.

10. Protect yourself from threats that don't exist yet

Everyone should be concerned about their digital privacy, no matter who they are or what they do in life. Unfortunately, not everyone agrees with this. Some people believe that if you have nothing to hide, then you have nothing to fear, but this is a fundamentally misguided perspective.

You never know what combination of personal information and new technologies will lead to future threats. After all, nobody could have foreseen 20 years ago that putting government records online would be a boon for identity thieves.

Even if you have nothing to hide, you need to protect your privacy-because something completely innocent-seeming today might lead to a huge personal threat in the future. To prepare for these unknown assaults on your data, the only thing you can do is to make it less accessible.

For more information

Now that you've learned a bit about why it's so important to keep your personal information private, you might want to know more. The following articles can help guide you:

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Top 10 reasons to keep your personal information private | ReputationDefender

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If you think your personal information is secure, think again. Keeping your information safe is now the exception, not the rule. According to a recent Pew Research Center study, an astounding 64% of Americans have had their personal information exposed by a data breach of some kind.

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Don’t respond to bullies. Tell an adult. 

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Don’t respond to bullies. Tell an adult. 

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When someone is mean to people online, most of the time their goal is to get a reaction from you and make you upset. It is important that if you are being bullied, you do not react to them. This will only give the bully validation and might cause bullying to become more serious.

If you experience or see cyberbullying it is important to take screenshots of anything that you plan on reporting. You should also tell an adult you trust like a teacher or your parents or guardians.

https://www.digitalcitizenship.nsw.edu.au/articles/how-to-respond-to-cyberbullying

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When trying to keep children and young people safe online, prevention is always better than cure, but when cyberbullying does happen it is important that parents, teachers and children and young people know how to respond and where they can go to get help.

How to respond to cyber-bullying

The Department of Education's Anti-bullying website refers to cyber-bullying as the act of bullying behaviour using the internet or digital devices. It might include:

sending abusive texts and emails

posting unkind messages or images

imitating others online

excluding others online

tagging people in pictures against their wishes

threatening another person to do something such as sending revealing images.

Teach children and young people to follow the following steps to reduce and prevent cyberbullying:

1. don't reply or respond - bullies thrive on the reactions they get from their victims.

2. save the evidence - take screenshots of cyberbullying posts so that you can use them as evidence later

3. tell a trusted adult - you do not need to deal with bullies by yourself, teachers and parents can help

4. report cyberbullying - this could be to your school or in more serious cases to the police and the Office of the eSafety Commissioner.

What to do when a child reports cyber-bullying

Once a child reports cyber-bullying:

Listen carefully

Discuss a plan of action

Involve relevant school personnel

Implement a plan and follow up

Download the Anti-bullying- parents and carers online bullying fact sheet (PDF 223.73 KB) or go to the Anti-bullying website for more information.

Support and further help

For more serious cases, reporting directly to the Office of the eSafety Commissioner is recommended. Go to:

Professional learning for educators

Teaching positive, smart and safe online practices can help create an environment where cyber-bulling is reduced. There is a range of training and support to help educators deliver digital citizenship outcomes such as:

Lesson plans are available on The Office of the eSafety Commissioner's website including:

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When trying to keep children and young people safe online, prevention is always better than cure, but when cyberbullying does happen it is important that parents, teachers and children and young people know how to respond and where they can go to get help.

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Sometimes there are websites that have inappropriate content for a child. It is important to know what websites your kids are using and what they use them for. It is important that children ask their teachers or families what websites are appropriate and which ones are not.

https://www.internetmatters.org/issues/inappropriate-content/learn-about-it/

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Find out about the type of inappropriate content that your child may see across the platforms and apps they use and the challenges of keeping them safe.

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Online Privacy for Kids - Internet Safety and Security for Kids

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Cyberbullying - How to Avoid Cyber Abuse

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While doing this assignment I realized that this is really important information that needs to be emphasized more. I remember learning about this when I was a child by commercials on television but I don’t remember learning about it in school. I think this is very important to teach to your students or your kids especially now that technology is becoming more of a key component in education. I think it could be beneficial to teach this lesson before students are given internet access at school. Maybe you can bring you students to your schools computer lab before doing research so they become familiar with how to be respectful to the schools resources. I also think it would help students to go over these expectations before any research based assignment.

Something I did not consider before doing this project is that children are using technology for the first time at much younger ages. It is important that parents also understand how children can be safe online regardless of their age. Now that children are using technology as toddlers, this should not be a lesson that starts in school, I think it should start whenever a child is exposed to technology. It is also important for adults to monitor what children are seeing on their devices and to put in place any necessary parental controls.

My research has strengthened my belief that this is a lesson that is very important to teach at any grade level. This is important information that should be reinforced multiple times. Different ages of children present new dangers that the internet may bring. When students get older they could be exposed to more content on the internet and they should be given a time to ask questions about how to be safe as they access new information.