Digital Citizenship Inside Fourth Grade

          Digital citizenship is defined as “the norms of appropriate, responsible behavior with regard to technology use” (Ribble).  As the layers of that definition are peeled back, one will find that "digital citizenship is how you participate in the cyber community, and is quite similar to how you should behave in the community you reside in" (Watson).  You should treat others with kindness and respect, behave honestly and responsibly, and follow the rules and laws set forth to protect the safety and privacy of yourself and others.  So, as we dig a little deeper into the topic we realize that it is not that complicated, nor is it far from how you should  behave on a day to day basis.  

Digital citizenship in the fourth grade is more than teaching “internet safety”, it is about introducing students to the idea of a "digital tattoo" or a "digital footprint".  Students in my community are allowed cellphones, iPods, and iPads at very young ages.  They are allowed social network accounts like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  With this type of cyber access just a fingertip away, students deserve to be taught what it means to be digitally responsible and how to protect their digital footprint.

This access also brings to light some of the issues regarding internet safety, and responsible cyber activity in early elementary.   The typical fourth grader is 10 years old.  At this age students are not completely aware of what is defined as appropriate and inappropriate.  For example, imagine this scenario:  A sibling thinks it is hilarious that their little brother or sister is running around the house dressed up as captain underpants, wearing nothing but their underpants and a cape?  Let’s say that older sibling takes a picture of this funny scene and posts it on a social network site.  There you have a photo that will forever be floating around in the cyber world.  Another scenario may be that a group of friends all go to the movies together.  They post pictures of themselves at the event making other friends feel bad for not being invited.  This is a form of cyber bullying that occurs frequently and is often overlooked.  Students need to know that everything they post and every website they visit becomes part of their digital footprint.  Educators need to take on the responsibility of promoting digital citizenship to protect students from damaging their digital profile early on. 

There are a variety of ways that educators can teach students about digital citizenship. Teachers may have their students create blog posts where they reach out to other students for advice or questions about how to handle cyber bullying.  Activities like these may be implemented during English to cover Common Core Standards: writing for a purpose. Students may also create digital passports or digital toolkits that help to promote digital citizenship.

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For a list of the resources please check out my works cited page.

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