Digital citizenship is the appropriate and responsible use of social media. It is so important to teach students about the appropriate ways to use social media in and outside of the classroom. There are nine elements of digital citizenship explained here. By the age of 10 (even though there are age restrictions on most social media accounts) students are starting to explore social media accounts. It is important to explain to students safety and etiquette before they start to explore on their own.
Digital security and privacy is important to teach students as young as they start using computers on their own. Explain to students that you must be a certain age before going on websites without permission of an adult. This will teach them that not only at school can they not go on random websites but also at home.
In grade 6 health it would be a great idea to touch on digital health and welfare. Grade 6 health is about identity. As people in this technological era we have both a personal and digital identity. It is important to teach students about health on and off line. This can include how much time a student is spending online.
It is so important to discuss all nine elements of digital citizenship as soon as the student is able to use a comupter on their own. The older the student gets the more in depth information they should have about their digital citizenship and digital identity. Students may not know that everything they post online is online forever. It is so important they are not posting something they will regret in the future or something that could get them into serious trouble. Social media is just as real as real life.