This is the second year that the HCPS Internet Safety System has been in place. This system is designed to help students have a basic overview of digital skills and agree to be responsible digital citizens before using the internet at school. This year every student in grades K, 1, 3, 6, and 9 and any new HCPS students had to complete this training before going online. However, the instruction for digital citizenship and online safety should not end there.
It is every staff member’s responsibility to show students how to survive in this digital world through continued modeling, instruction and support. One of the tools that you can use is the FREE curriculum for teachers of K-12 students from Common Sense Media. This Digital Citizenship Curriculum has lesson plans, instructional videos, files and resources to help all adults educate our students to keep safety first when using technology tools and resources. Some of the topics covered in the curriculum include:
- Media Balance and Well-being
- Privacy & Security
- Digital Footprint & Identity
- Relationships & Communication
- Cyberbullying, Digital Drama & Hate Speech
- News & Media Literacy
We encourage you to take a look beyond the HCPS Internet Safety System and look for ways to keep cybersafety at the forefront of the minds of students. They’re going to use internet-based tools outside of school, so the more we can educate them in school, the better chance we have of ensuring their safety when off campus. Thanks for all you do to support the skills of digital citizenship and internet safety.
