Three FREE Digital Citizenship Lessons
I made these exercises for seventh grade classes. Feel free to use them and adapt them to your grade level.
Addressing Digital Ethics
Professional Growth Plans
Summer 2025 - Pursuing badge for Common Sense Educator. This program focuses on digital citizenship for educators and classroom technology integration.
Summer 2026 - Digital Citizenship in Action course. This course focuses on creating empathetic digital citizens, which means less cyberbullying and more thought on ethical responses.
A Final Thought: What I've Learned about Digital Citizenship
Digital citizenship may well be the most important lesson today's students learn. In a world where information is literally at their fingertips, students will find themselves navigating the internet more and more. While the internet is a wonderful resource that opens opportunities for a global society, there are many dangers at hand.
The Pew Research Center says 46% of US teens between the ages of 13-17 have been cyberbullied. While the majority is name-calling, some are threatened with physical violence. The perceptions of anonymity and proximity often have a lot to do with this problem.
But cyberbullying isn't the only problem today's students face. There's a barrage of fake information being hurled into the world for various reasons. It's important for students to recognize those reasons and identify fake news, misinformation. and disinformation.
Middle school students also need to be made aware of their digital footprint. The things they say or post today may impact their ability to get a job this summer, or 5 years from now. Showing reckless behavior, even though they are "just kids," can give them an unwanted reputation.
Another very serious problem facing students today is the role the internet plays in crimes against them. More than 300 million children worldwide are victims of online sexual abuse and exploitation each year, according to a report by the Childlight Global Child Safety Institute at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland.
Digital citizenship is vital. Students need a good grasp of ethical use of the internet and need to be aware of its dangers. Parents must also be part of this discussion. Schools should offer workshops to help parents better understand how to keep their children safe online and to inform them of tools they can use at home for a safer internet experience. In this way, schools are creating good digital citizens from families, not just students.