DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP

Meet Karen. She is ten years old and in the 5th grade. She loves art, playing soccer and hanging out with her friends. It is the middle of the school year and her teacher has taught many lessons on digital citizenship. Karen has learned not to give out personal information, be nice to others online and not to copy others people's work from the internet. 

Unfortunately, Karen forgets all she has learned at school when she is over at a friend's house for a slumber party. The girls decide to go on the internet to find out about a new reality type video game where they can create avatars with similar interests as their own. 

First, Karen creates a login with her real name and provides her address when asked. Next, she uploads a picture of herself so that her avatar looks exactly like herself in real life. She wants her avatar to go to her school and provides the name of her real school and even the name of her real soccer team. The soccer team name includes the name of the city in which she lives. The game includes a live chat option and now anyone can contact her knowing a wealth of information.            

An unsafe person now knows:

1.  Her name

2.  What she looks like

3.  Possibly her address if hacked into the site

4.  The name of her town

5.  Her sports team name and location

6.  Where she goes to school

7.  A way to access her schedule

8.  A way to contact her online

Karen should have followed these rules from www. primarytech.com when online:

1. Always ask an adult if you’re unsure of anything when you are online.

2. Don’t sign up for sites that are 13+ if you are not old enough (Facebook, YouTube, Instagram etc).

3. Remember YAPPY (the personal information you should not share online) – Your full name, address, phone number, passwords, your plans. 

4. Don’t add people as online friends unless you know them in real life or have parent permission. Never arrange to meet an online friend without talking to a parent.

5. Remember that you cannot believe everything you read on the internet and you can’t trust everything online friends tell you.

6. Choose sensible names for usernames, email addresses etc. 

7. Talk to your parents about what you’re doing online and let them know when you’re going on the internet.

8. Know what cyber bullying is and tell someone if you think it’s happening to you. Cyber bullying is when someone picks on you, annoys, embarrasses, or threatens you over and over again using technology, such as the internet or a phone.

9. Protect your digital footprint: don’t put anything online that you wouldn’t want all your friends, family, teachers and future employers to see.

10. Treat others online the way you’d like to be treated

     

* Often children believe that because a website is password protected they are safe sharing personal information. Unfortunately, it is often what is shared within a site that can do the most harm. 

* It's important as a teacher to stress that online safety rules are not only imperative at school but also at home! Here are a few resources that can be used in both places: 

Kid's Rules for Online Safety 

These rules could be used by teachers or families as a good reminder to children about online safety. 

Internet Safety Quiz for Kids

Good quiz with common scenarios

OnGuardOnline.Gov

Government website with games and articles for kids