Digital Citizenship

 It is very important for young students and children to understand how to safely and respectfully navigate the internet and the interactions that they will have with others online. 

Here are 10 short stories that will reflect values and lessons that students will need in order to navigate this increasingly digital age.

1. One day, Jeremy was fed up with his high school football team always losing. He was especially mad at the team's quarterback since he was supposed to be the team's best player. One Friday night, after another loss, Jeremy decided to post on his Snapchat story that the team's quarterback would never get a college scholarship. The next day, the whole football team and cheerleading team picked on him and bullied him for what he posted. 

What could Jeremy have done differently?

Jeremy could have thought about what he was posting and who would have seen his message, then decided if the consequences were truly worth the hot air he was blowing out. 

Lesson: Be mindful about what you post.

2. Elizabeth and Paige were fighting over a dispute they got into at school. To vent her frustrations, Elizabeth, when she got home from school, decided to text one of her friends that Paige was "fat and dumb". This friend that Elizabeth gossiped to told another friend and Elizabeth's words were passed around and eventually got back to Paige. The next day, Elizabeth was called into the principal's office because Paige had told him the nasty comment that Elizabeth had made and even pulled up screenshots of the text message that Elizabeth sent her friend.. Elizabeth ended up getting suspended for three days from school and fell behind on her assignments and got in a lot of trouble with her parents. 

What could Elizabeth have done differently?

Elizabeth could have remembered that what she puts on social media is permanent and can be passed around quickly. She should have reserved her texting for kind words only.

Lesson: Always use kind words on social media or when texting.  

3. One day, Allen was scrolling Twitter and saw someone's post advocating for a politician of the opposite political party that Allen aligned with. Allen decided to comment on the post, saying how wrong and corrupt the politician was. Then, Allen received so many replies starting arguments for and against Allen's original reply. In the end, Allen became so mad that he felt even more disdain for the other political party than before he even logged onto Twitter.

What could Allen have done differently?

Allen could have acknowledge the post and that the poster had a different political view and just went about his day. 

Lesson: Respect Differences 

4. Jennifer is a very popular content creator with over 100K followers on Instagram. While endorsing one of her own self-care products, someone commented on her video that the product was overpriced and did not work as advertised. Jennifer became angry that someone would disagree with her merchandise and replied saying that the customer had no taste and did not have to buy her product if they did not want to. The reply blew up and made many people unfollow Jennifer and she had to make an apology video, but the damage had already been done. She had lost thousands of followers and it took a hit on her merchandise sales.

What could Jennifer have done differently? 

She should have taken a walk to blow off steam, and then once calmed down, asked the customer in what ways could the product have been improved.

Lesson: Don't respond in anger.

5. Mark is a teacher and received an email from a fellow teacher asking if Mark had signed a birthday card that all the teachers were tasked with signing since it was one of their colleague's birthdays. The email asked "Have you signed the birthday card yet?", to which Mark, without realizing that his caps lock was turned on, replied "NO, I HAVE NOT SIGNED IT BUT I WILL." This appeared that Mark was shouting at his colleague and created some tension because this teacher thought that Mark was annoyed with him for asking.

What could Mark have done differently?

Mark should have checked to see if his caps lock was on, and then turned it off to not give off the appearance that he was shouting.

Lesson: Don't type in all caps.

6. Teressa and her friend Shelly are having a conversation over text message. The two are planning what to do the next time they hangout. Shelly says that they should go on a hike, to which Teressa responds with "Yeah that's fine". At first, Shelly does not know what to make of this response and is deciding whether Teressa actually wants to go on a hike or is just saying that to save face. Shelly then asks Teressa if she actually wants to do that. Teressa, a few seconds later, sends a message saying "Yes that sounds fun!" with two smiling emojis  indicating that she is excited to go on the hike. This gives Shelly some much needed clarity and now knows that they are both on the same page. 

What could Teressa have done differently?

She could have added some punctuation or emojis to indicate her mood towards the plans that Shelly had made.

Lesson: Use emojis and punctuation to clarify tone (when appropriate).

7. Rachel and Olivia are best friends. Rachel recently got out of a relationship with her boyfriend and told Olivia that she was single. Olivia then posted on social media that Rachel was single, to which multiple guys started texting Rachel immediately after seeing the post. Rachel became angry with Olivia for posting this because she wanted some time to herself and did not want to get into another relationship immediately. 

What could Olivia have done differently?

She could have asked Rachel if it was okay for her to post her relationship status on social media.

Lesson: Respect people's privacy- don't post without asking first!

8. Mary has an anxiety disorder that only her family and close friends know about. When she becomes anxious, she stress eats. At lunch one day, before a big test that Mary was nervous about, she was eating extra food to calm her down. A girl, Lisa, who was not friends with Mary saw her eating extra and assumed that she was pregnant. Lisa decided to text her friends in a group chat and her friends spread the rumor further. Soon the rumor that Mary was pregnant was passed around her grade, only making Mary more anxious because it was not true. To stop the rumor, Mary had to tell everyone that she had an anxiety disorder, which she did not want to do.

What could Lisa have done differently?

She could have kept the thought to herself and not spread the rumor without any information or context.

Lesson: Do not spread rumors or gossip

9. Chase has trouble gaining weight because he has a very high metabolism. No matter how much he eats or works out to gain muscle, it never shows or takes a long time for him to gain weight. Chase is self-conscious because he thinks that being skinny and undersized means he is unattractive, which is not true. One night, when talking in a group chat with his friends, they were all discussing girls at their school who they thought were cute. When Chase said who he liked, his friends responded jokingly by saying how she would not like him back because he was so skinny and not muscular, therefore she probably would not find him attractive. This hurt Chase very much because even though he knew they were joking, he thought they were probably right and there was not much that he could do about it, and caused him to be even more self-conscious about his body.

What could his friends have done differently?

They could have not made the hurtful joke towards Chase and instead encouraged him to talk to the girl that he liked.

Lesson: Avoid hurtful jokes.

10. Tom is at a job interview and is being asked many questions about how he would handle certain people, problems, and situations in a work environment. The interview seems to go well and is about to end and Tom thinks he has the job in the bag, but then his interviewer (the manager of the company) pulls up Tom's Twitter account where Tom posts mean comments about people. After seeing the comments the manager decides that Tom is not the best fit because it is clear that who he is in person is very different than who he is online, where Tom thinks no one is watching or cares.

What could Tom have done differently?

Tom could have spread positivity instead of tearing others down.

Lesson: Be a positive digital role model.

I hope you learned how to be a good digital citizen from these stories!!