In todays digital world, how can you, as an advocate on being a good digital citizen, help your fellow classmate (or classmates) become a good digital citizen(s).
Answers
Answer:
Encourage critical thinking skills. Teach students to think about what they do and how they interact with others online. What will they gain (or lose) from posting certain photos or content online? How will their words affect others? What can people assume or interpret from their words? Keep an open dialogue between the class and ensure students feel comfortable speaking about their online activity. If they see something online and are unsure of how to react or if they should react at all, encourage them to ask you or another adult about it.
Connect with your community. Schools networks, organizations such as Kids Help Phone, community centres, and your local police and health departments have an abundance of helpful guidelines that can help you and your kids use the Internet critically, positively, and fairly.
Consult the H&PE curriculum. The H&PE curriculum includes a set of expectations surrounding online behaviour in the Personal Safety and Injury Prevention component of the Healthy Living strand (and through the Living Skills). The Living Skills provides students with the personal, interpersonal, and critical and creative thinking skills needed to retain healthy relationships. Skills such as self-advocacy, conflict resolution, anger management, and decision-making skills, as well as the ability to use assertiveness, resistance, and refusal techniques, are also included and can help students respond safely and effectively online.
Refer to resources for further assistance. Ophea offers several resources that encourage good digital citizenship. CyberCops is a lesson plan for grades 7 and 8 that teaches students how to respond and recognize various online safety issues. Connect[ED] is also a great resource addressing online safety for students in grades 4 to 6. (Both free, bilingual, and available online through Ophea’s Teaching Tools)