Glen Meadow students learn to be good 'digital citizens'

VERNON — They may be only 13 or 14 years old, but according to Matt Shea, they are old enough to get into some serious messes, in part, due to the easy accessibility of the Internet.

Working as the Chief Technology Officer for the Vernon Township School District, Shea knows all the tools and tricks of modern day technology.

Last Wednesday, in the packed auditorium of Glen Meadow School, Shea presented his program “Digital Citizenship: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.” According to Shea, “Digital citizenship is near and dear to my heart and we need all the help we can get to talk to our students about it.”

The purpose of the program is to help students define the aspects of what makes a good digital citizen, but it also helps students learn some pitfalls and dangers of the Internet. The presentation delivered a more serious message about making poor choices on the Internet and offered some examples of “career-ending” mistakes such as “sexting” and cyber bullying, the latter of which may be taken as terroristic threats.

The program first touched on being a good digital citizen.

Typically good citizens mow their lawns, vote, pay taxes, obey laws, and serve their community. Concerning safety on the Internet a good citizen will be aware of privacy settings with social media, but at the same time, the students were told to be especially aware of the permanence of the web. In short, whatever they post will likely be a forever-kind statement. Whenever someone posts, sends, or submits something, it is permanent. Whether it is a clever remark on a Facebook page or a malicious letter to a newspaper’s editor.

Shea also covered the tools that students can use, but also mentioned that the school district tracks things such as My Big Campus. Google Docs, Gmail, and web browsing history. Also covered were New Jersey’s Educational Standards as they relate to understanding appropriate online behaviors related to cyber safety, cyber bullying, cyber security, and cyber ethics, including the appropriate use of social media. In particular, the appropriate uses of social media and the negative consequences of misuse.

The presentation also touched on how misuse has resulted in prison terms, suicides, job loss, and numerous other undesirable results. Each example included a story about such an occurrence.

If nothing else, each student left with the understanding that they should think twice, before acting once.