Teaching and modeling digital citizenship is essential to helping our students learn how to responsibly use social media.  My goal as a librarian is to help our young people understand that images and messages posted on the Internet today can affect their future forever.  Fortunately, Common Sense Education provides a wealth of resources for educators and families.

Three years ago White Oak Middle School implemented Common Sense Education curriculum, and the change in our school culture has been significant. Our students have learned to use social media responsibly, show respect for other’s work, and avoid the negative effects of cyberbullying. Through Common Sense we became a digital citizenship certified school and district.

In addition to educating our students, we shared the digital citizenship resources with our students’ families through parent lunch and learns, blog posts, and newsletters.

Common Sense Media helps families make smart media choices. We offer the largest, most trusted library of independent age-based and educational ratings and reviews for movies, games, apps, TV shows, websites, books, and music.  Our Parent Concerns and Parent Blog help families understand and navigate the problems and possibilities of raising children in the digital age. -Common Sense Media

An easy way for families to start the digital citizenship conversation is by participating in the #DeviceFreeDinner Challenge. Use the Common Sense Media resources to create a family media plan.     

Check out all the resources at Common Sense Media to get students started on the path to being responsible digital citizens.