Friday, December 2, 2016

Blog # 7



Marie Christine Nduwimana
FS 4583-C1
Parenting Issues and Education
Prof: Dr. Coleman
November 30, 2016
 

BLOG 7
2. What is Digital Citizenship and how can parents teach it to their children?   Include links to two additional resources (remember to provide descriptions on the content in the links).

In the age of digital technology, one of the key things at the fore of most parents and educators is the way in which children are using this technology. In recent times, the onset of technology, primarily through social media, has literally lead to an exodus of cybercrimes, cyber bullying among other crimes not previously heard of before the onset of technology. As serious as those problems are, many children have fallen victims to even more severe crimes. Some children have been lured by total strangers who in many instances pretend to be someone else. https://www.commonsensemedia.org/videos/super-digital-citizen# . In the video embedded, it clearly outlined how children use the internet along with technology. It underscores the danger to which they are exposed to each time they surf, browse, post or share.
Some children even agree to meet with these total strangers, only to become victims of sexual assault, human trafficking and even murder. The concept of digital citizenship suggests technological responsibility among our children. But for many, this is a foreign concept. Many children are far more technologically savvy than their parents. This presents a clear and present danger to the children. Many manipulate their parents in using this technology and many parents lag too far behind to even know they are being manipulated.
Parents however have a responsibility to teach their children to be digital citizens. This means that parents must themselves learn to be good digital citizens themselves. Parents must become the example they want to see for their children. In teaching digital citizenship, there are many steps that parents must take to ensure their children become technologically responsible. The first and most important thing for parents to teach to their children is that everything that is written/posted will be there for life, even after it is deleted. This means that that one pictures you mistakenly posted, will be available even after you are grown up and become elderly. The next rule of thumb for parents to teach to their children is that things aren’t necessarily as they appear to be on social media. One can easily pretend to be someone else, or use photos belonging to someone else to easily mislead others. Parents should have frank discussions with their children about respecting others on social media, use language that they would normally use in their everyday life among others.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hppopehsurw . In this second video, both children and parents are sensitized to the use of digital technology. Parents are also informed how to be better parents by monitoring what their children do on social media. Parents should sensitize children about the dangers of using their cell phones among other gadgets while trying to do something else.
Many young adolescents become victims to different crimes simply because they are using technology. With the onset of Pokémon go and other similar games, many persons have been killed or injured simply by walking off cliffs, walking into traffic or bumping into objects.






















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