Thing 17: Digital Tattoo & Digital Citizenship (Take 2)

Hello Readers,

I am revisiting the topic of Digital Citizenship for 2 reasons: I am creating lessons on the topic for 9th & 10th graders, and because there is so much information out there that additional resources can now be added to my dossier.

First, I checked out an article link in Edutopia.org on the 9 elements/themes of digital citizenship (DC).  I liked it because it was a simple breakdown of the critical areas that educators & parents need to focus on.  http://digitalcitizenship.net/Nine_Elements.html

The author of this article wrote a book on these 9 themes titled: Digital Citizenship in Schools & he is the creator of the website DigitalCitizenship.org.  His credentials are perfect for teaching this topic and the book is promoted through International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE).

Going back to the original article, I found another excellent website on the topic of DC - Cyberwise.org.  This site posted an article on Digital Relationships & Teen Dating Apps.  I don't know why I hadn't come across this type of information before, but it makes sense that teens would have their own version of online dating...but of course the dangers to teens for such services is serious.  In fact, the article wrote about 3 separate cases of sexual assault in 2012 from one of the teen dating sites (Skout).  These dating apps provide teens with the freedom to take some risks, push boundaries, flirt and make contacts with strangers, try out a more mature dating platform, share personal information as well as their locations.  Teens that try out these apps are not thinking about the consequences of sharing this information or the dangers of meeting strangers who are often older men (predators).  I was surprised just how many dating apps were out there for 13 to 19 year old teens.  For most sites, they did not verify the age of the users.  One of the sites, "Hot Or Not" gives teens the message that dating is all about beauty, to teens who are already self-conscious about their body image.  Another site called "Meet Me" shared racy photos and mature content. "MYLOL" was rated as "Not Safe" by Common Sense Media.  Fortunately, there is parental monitoring software that can block the use of these apps and the amount of time that teens are on their devices (Surfie).  The link for this article is below.  I intend to include these dating apps in my discussions/lessons on internet safety.
http://www.cyberwise.org/single-post/2017/02/21/6-TEEN-HOOKUP-APPS-PARENTS-SHOULD-KNOW-ABOUT

Cyberwise.org was also a good site for other articles, videos and resources that educators and parents can use on the topic of DC.  The tab for Cyber Civics for schools and parents was especially good for downloadable lessons & resources.  You can follow them on FB or Twitter too - very interesting posts from my short exploration!

Lastly, teachers can always go to BrainPop for videos and short activities on the topic of DC.  Our district pays for this database, so usage counts and I think the students like it, even in high school.