Bring Digital Citizenship Week Home

By Emily Phelan
Spotlight
October 16, 2020

Digital Citizenship Week this year is October 19–23, 2020! 

Digital Citizenship Week is a great time for school communities to start, renew, or double down on their commitment to engage students in learning important digital citizenship concepts and skills so they become safe, ethical and responsible citizens. FCPS has materials to support families on our Digital Citizenship website, including a course to help guide a conversation between parents and teens.  Please consider bringing Digital Citizenship home this week with the quick-hits below to jump-start a conversation.  

What is Digital Citizenship and why is it important?
"The past decade has seen an exponential increase in digital tools and opportunities, which carry the need for students to master a new set of life skills for behaving safely, ethically and responsibly online. Students are much more likely to understand good digital citizenship — the norms of appropriate, responsible technology use — when teachers and parents/trusted adults model it and explicitly teach and promote it on a regular basis." (Crompton)  

Monday - Media Balance and Well Being 

Daily Question: How can I create media balance in my life? 

Share a video and discuss: Screen Time: How Much Is Too Much?

Tuesday - Privacy and Security

Daily Question: How can I keep my private data safe? 

Share a video and discuss: The Right Age for Social Media 

Wednesday - Digital Footprint and Identity

Daily Question: How can I build a digital footprint I'm proud of?

Share a video and discuss: Teen Voices: Who Are You on Social Media?

Thursday - Relationships and Communication

Daily Question: How can I communicate kindly, build relationships, and stand up to hate?

Share a video and discuss: Teen Voices: Hate Speech Online

Friday - News and Media Literacy

Daily Question: How can I think critically about the things I see, create, and share?

Share a video and discuss: Social Media: Is Your Breaking News Broken?

Thank you for participating in Digital Citizenship Week at home to help our students enjoy the benefits of technology in a healthy and balanced way. 

If you're interested in additional resources, check out the following websites:

FCPS Digital Citizenship Webpage

Family Online Safety Institute 

Be Internet Awesome with Google