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The line between citizenship and digital citizenship will progressively blur as we continue to advance in our digital age. For most of us, not a day goes by that we do not operate in the digital world to some capacity. As digital accessibility becomes more and more prevalent, the frequency of our digital use will only increase. We use technology to communicate, to navigate, to buy, and sell. Our money is handled digitally, we network both professionally and socially by way of technology.
Ohler (2010) explains that citizenship requires individual virtuous behavior. What is interesting about this specific definition is that to be a good citizen is not just the absence of wrongdoing, but a pursuit of virtue. To be a good citizen is not just to avoid run-ins with the law, but to positively contribute to the community and world around oneself. So often, this simple understanding of citizenship does not translate to the digital world. Many think of digital citizenship as avoiding the dark side of the web or being smart enough not to get scammed. Individuals can be "good" digital citizenship by positively contributing to the world around them by way of technology. What makes Ohler's explanation a bit controversial is that there can be a major disagreement on what the term "virtuous" means in 2020. As I have heard countless times throughout my life, especially since joining the field of education, is that the standard of what is moral, proper, decent, or right has been lowered by our society. What used to be a similar understanding of virtue has become more diversified and vague. I wonder, as we seek to educate students on both digital citizenship AND basic citizenship, what is the standard to which we will hold them? Is it our own personal sense of digital citizenship? Will the demographic of our school play of factor? Does Mike Ribble set the standard for virtuous digital citizens?
These types of mental ponderings lead me to lean more heavily on digital law and etiquette as elements that are vital for students to understand and internalize. The internet is forever; any action performed on a device is archived somewhere. It seems so vastly unfair that young people are handed devices and instantly have the power to permanently damage their reputation as a citizen. That sounds extreme, but it is not. Young people are immature, make mistakes, and learn by experience how to handle themselves. We all know this, we hear it every day. However, when these things are done with a device, it takes the consequences to a whole other level. I am familiar with a story where a student made an inappropriate joke about immigration on Twitter. (I do not know the specifics of the joke, but I assume it was bad and should not have been said). The tweet was picked up by a social activist who instructed her 50K+ followers to "destroy his life." After receiving hundreds of hate messages, including death threats, his school was pressured into expelling him. His friends disassociated him out of fear of being labeled as racists. The family is now in significant debt due to legal fees as the student is trying to find a way to transfer his credits to continue pursuing his education. Ribble (2015) states that few rules have been established for the proper use of technology and therefore, students do not comprehend the social ramifications nor the legal ramifications of their actions when they take place in the digital world. This student needs to understand the power of his words, whether they are spoken or typed, and what it means to be a virtuous citizen.
The digital world can be unforgiving. Helping students understand that internet activity is permanent. Sharing these examples and stories will help to communicate the gravity of an errant tweet. This is definitely an uphill battle; this generation is the most accustomed on the planet to the digital world and often don't distinguish it as something different. This is why I believe the message of digital citizenship should not be about "don'ts" and "avoids," but about using the tools we have to positively contribute in virtuous ways to the world around us.
References:
Ohler, J. (2010). Digital community: Digital Citizen. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.
Ribble, M. (2015). Digital citizenship in schools: Nine elements all students should know (Third edition). International Society for Technology in Education.
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