Education Week - September 21, 2022 - 13

3 Tips for Teaching
Online Responsibility
To Young Kids
By Alyson Klein
Think preschool is too young to start teaching
kids about digital citizenship? Consider this:
Almost half of children have their own mobile
device before they even set foot in a kindergarten
classroom, according to a 2020 survey by
the nonprofit Common Sense Media, which
focuses on helping children use technology in
safer and more meaningful ways.
" I think it's really important, in particular, to
address media balance at younger ages so that
kids are set up with those habits early to take
into the older grades, " said Kelly Mendoza,
the vice president of educational programs for
Common Sense Media, which has created resources
to introduce young children to digital
literacy skills.
Here are three tips for teaching children in
preschool and elementary school how to responsibly
navigate digital spaces:
1. Talk to kids about the impact of too
much screen time
Help young children understand that if they
spend hours playing digital games or looking
at videos online, they'll lose out on fun things
happening in the real world. Teachers can ask
youngsters to talk about something they missed
because they were too engrossed in their device.
And they can help students reflect on how
they feel physically after a lot of time online. Is
their brain fuzzy? Does their head hurt? What
about their eyes? Are they more antsy than
usual?
Educators can also explain that if a parent,
teacher, or friend wants to talk to them while
they're doing something online, they should
pause, turn away from the device, and toward the
real-life person. And teachers and parents can literally
show them how to do that by simulating it.
The best thing adults can do? Put down their
own phone. Students are watching how teachers
and parents handle tech balance. So you
have to practice what you preach.
2. Safety should be part of the conversation,
but it doesn't have to be scary
Children should understand that there's usually
a real person behind the chat messages
and avatars they see in online spaces. They
have to be careful in the digital world, just like
they are in the real one. That means no sharing
information-not even a favorite color-and
definitely no giving out passwords. If kids find
themselves in an unfamiliar or strange-looking
corner of the internet, they should tell a parent
or teacher.
Children need to hear that " some people
don't have their best interests at heart, " said
Faith Rogow, an independent scholar and author
of Media Literacy for Young Children:
Teaching Beyond the Screen Time Debates,
published this year. " If someone says something
to them [online] that makes them upset
or uncomfortable, they need to know that they
have adults they can come to talk to about
that. "
3. You don't need digital tools to begin
teaching digital literacy
It's never too early to help children start
thinking about the fact that there's a person-
with a viewpoint-behind every piece of print
or online content they see. That can be done
informally, Rogow said. For instance, when the
class is walking down the hall, or in the neighborhood
surrounding the school, point out a
flyer and ask: " I wonder who made that? "
Most preschool and early elementary school
teachers ask predictive questions before they
read a book aloud in class, often by sharing the
cover and asking kids to guess what the story is
going to be about. It only takes one extra question
to begin imparting a key skill kids will need
on and offline, something along the lines of
" can you tell me why you think that?' or " how
do you know? " Rogow said. Younger students
will often respond with something " completely
off the wall " but that doesn't matter because
" what it does is begin to get them in the habit
of, 'oh, I'm expected to give evidence for my
answers.' "
And that expectation will get them started on
the path to looking for the right evidence when
they are trying to determine if an online source
or statement is credible. Preschool and elementary
school are not too early to begin building
that skill.
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Education Week - September 21, 2022

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