What is digital citizenship?

Introducing the concept of digital citizenship to your child is the first step to helping them take responsibility when going online. 

Digital Citizenship is citizenship in the digital world. Just as citizens of a country are expected to follow established norms of behavior, it is important that those same norms carry over into the digital world. In the physical world, we expect children to be kind, to stay safe, to act responsibly, and to be respectful to others. It is easy for a child to think these things don’t apply in the digital world because it is not a physical space; they’re alone, and interactions can be anonymous. 

The reason it is important to talk about digital citizenship with children is to establish that it is a place that they are a citizen of each time they go online. The best way to ensure that that happens is by helping them see their access to the digital world as a kind of citizenship.

For the purposes of parenting, the digital world is any place where your child connects digitally to other people. This includes everything from text messages and social media to online forums and interactive livestream gaming. Remember that the digital world is always growing and evolving so this definition will only get more expansive over time.

The challenge in parenting children with access to the digital world is that getting online is highly accessible, allows for anonymity, and can be done with or without adult supervision. The most concerning thing is that so much of the digital world is intentionally designed to keep people engaged by leveraging neurochemicals like dopamine. You can think of it this way. If an adult with a fully developed prefrontal cortex is challenged to make the right choices when engaged online then imagine how much more difficult it is for a child to make good choices when they’re prefrontal cortex isn’t fully developed until they’re 25 years old. 

It is easy to let your child go off into the digital world on their own because it doesn’t feel threatening but that is an oversimplified way of thinking about the digital world. Many risks are associated with access to the digital world, and parents need to define and discuss those risks continuously. This is where the term digital citizen can be helpful because it provides context to root those conversations. If done regularly, your child will begin to see themselves as a member of the digital world and, hopefully, take that responsibility as seriously as they do in the physical world. This is a foundational element for developing healthy habits when going online.

If you're interested in reading more about the core elements of digital citizenship then check out this curriculum on the Common Sense Media website.