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Teaching Kids to Be Good Digital Citizens and Be Internet Awesome
This Teaching Kids to Be Good Digital Citizens and Be Internet Awesome #BeInternetAwesome #ItsCoolToBeKind post is sponsored by Google in collaboration with the Forward Influence Network.
Teaching Kids to Be Good Digital Citizens and Be Internet Awesome
Did you know that 28% of students have experienced bullying personally and that 71% of students have witnessed bullying directly? These facts are staggering which just shows that the Internet is a very powerful place. It can be a place of positivity and kindness but it can also be a place filled with trolls and negativity. The fact of the matter is that we really cannot control what happens on the Internet rather we can control our reactions to it and we can treat others how they want to be treated by helping friends, disempowering drama and fighting back against cyberbullying. We hope that you find this Teaching Kids to Be Good Digital Citizens and Be Internet Awesome post valuable.
With over 50% of parents are concerned about their child being bullied, the first place to start is with the family. This is the perfect place to practice respect, choose kindness and to prepare our kids to be good digital citizens. Families can lift each other up, help each other learn from mistakes and should always be a place of safety and comfort. A family is also the place to encourage everyone to be upstanders by helping people when they are in need, being hurt or see something hurtful, such as bullying, happening and it's the perfect place to teach kids how to turn a negative situation into a positive one. This is why we all need to Be Internet Awesome.
Google's Be Internet Awesome
Be Internet Awesome is Google’s free multifaceted program designed to teach kids the fundamentals of digital citizenship and safety so they can explore the online world with confidence. The program is available in English and Spanish and consists of an ISTE standards aligned curriculum, ready-made Pear Decks for each lesson, Interland – an adventure-packed online game about digital safety and citizenship – and plenty of resources for educators and parents.
October is National Bullying Prevention Month
October is National Bullying Prevention Month. Throughout the month of October, Be Internet Awesome will sprinkle positive messages across communications to emphasize that the “golden rule” is just as important online as it is “IRL”. The internet can be a truly great place to learn when comments, conversations, and content are positive. BIA will help students and families see how to make choices that disempower bullying behavior and create healthy, productive spaces to interact.
How can we help prevent bullying or to stop it when it starts? Have those conversations with your family about how to be Upstanders and promote positivity at home, school, and online.
Five areas of Internet awesomeness
Teach these to your kids and practice them everyday as well.
SMART
Where we learn to share with care
ALERT
Where we learn not to fall for fake
STRONG
Where we learn how to secure Our digital stuff
KIND
Where we learn that itʼs cool to be kind
BRAVE
Where we learn that, when in doubt, we talk it out
It's Start with you and your family
You and your family can Be Internet Awesome by doing several things:
- Discuss how we treat people as a family. What behaviors are important and acceptable?
- How does this look online, in digital forms like texts, posts, comments, photos, videos, etc.?
- What does positivity mean to your family? How do you express positivity?
- Discuss situations where it is important to communicate in person versus online or via text or post.
- When is it time to ask a parent or sibling for help?
- What should you do if you find yourself being bullied?
Spread Kindness
Play Interland with your kids and put your kindness skills to the test at g.co/KindKingdom. We hope that you found this Teaching Kids to Be Good Digital Citizens and Be Internet Awesome post inspiring.
Be Internet Awesome and Join the Movement
Learn more about how to Be Internet Awesome and tell your kids’ teachers about the online curriculum so they can introduce these activities in the classroom.
Absolutely, these are great tips! My teen has had access online since a young age, and I still talk to her about the importance of what is shared.
What an important post! Everyone should definitely read this.
With social media and the internet growing all the time, it is so crucial kids remain safe! (And kind!)
Thanks for sharing!
All the best,
Alexandra
http://www.itsnotcomplicatedrecipes.com
This is such an important topic, the internet was quite new when I was a teenager, we were all still using MSN and Myspace was ‘the place to be’. As a kid, I had no idea the danger I put myself in by talking to strangers on MSN and although I am proud to say I was never a part of it.. the amount of bullying that did and still does take place online is saddening! Teaching kids the importance of being kind (and careful) on the internet is crucial in this day and age!
It’s so encouraging that Google are doing this. Digital is becoming so normal for kids now, and it’s important they learn to be good digital citizens! I never heard about this programme but will be sharing it.
Everyone should read it. And you know this is just really good. In short it is the upgradation of people.
This sounds like such a great initiative . It is so important to be good digital citizens and remain kind when online.
What a brilliant initiative from Google! Unfortunately it’s important to teach children about bullying and the effects it has on others, being it face to face or online.
I love this article! As someone who works with middle and high school age kids, I’ve seen firsthand the effects of bad internet behavior. Love that Google is getting involved to teach kids!
I really hope it sinks in with them too. The internet has a lot of potential for toxicity towards others.
This is such a very timely article where we live in the modern age where almost everything is done on the internet especially in social media platform. I’ve totally agreed with everything on this post and very detail. We just only need to read and share with our kids.
This is a very great topic to discuss. It’s so important for everyone to be educated about the digital world, including social media.
Hello girl! I am so glad to see parents like you caring about this topic. Internet is now like a extension of our life and people doesn’t seems to care about netiquette. Good for you and your family to have such a caring and responsible mom!
this is something we all need to get behind! i’m shocked by how mean kids can be online, but then i see adults and it’s oh, thats where they got it from…we can all be kinder
This great awareness, the struggle is real trying to keep my 13 year old Internet Awesome.
Such an important lesson these days to instill in the younger generation.
What a great idea. We saw the series 13 Reasons Why and it made us wonder how often bullying happens.
Great tips. Teaching kids to be positive in reality from the start is a good way to help them be positive online as well.
This is a wonderful program. I would hope I raised my kids right, but you just never know. This is a great idea.
What wonderful tips! We try to limit our kids’ online time, and stress to them the importance of not sharing everything.
I am glad that you addressed this important issues. While we teach our kids to be nice to people in person, with the growth of social media it is also important to teach internet etiquette as well. Well done!
It’s great that Google is doing this. The digital environment with its anonymity can be very dangerous for kids. Thank you for raising awareness on this topic.
So many great tips and ideas in your post. It is just as important to be a good citizen behind the computer screen and in real life. I love this initiative and I hope it catches on and more kids see that things that are said on the internet can hurt. Thank you for sharing this!
I never fail to remind my kids about internet safety. I may sound like an annoying recording, but it is for their own good. I also remind them to avoid saying things online that are not nice, because that would be tantamount to cyber bullying and I will not tolerate that. Setting a good example for me is the most effective way to promote safety and kindness online.
These are all great ones. I like that the talking it out section is listed as ‘brave!’
The internet isn’t going away any time soon, and it’s so important that kids learn how to use it safely and responsibly. Not just in the sense of protecting themselves, but also other kids; parents always worry about what will happen if their kids are victims of online bullying but don’t consider what happens when their kid IS the bully!
These are really awesome tips! Great way to encourage kids to be internet responsible.
My children are still young and don’t have access to internet, yet I’m very worried about this digital bullying and I support 100% all initiatives to fight that! The Internet gives people that sense of impunity like they can allow themselves behaviours they wouldn’t have in a face to face interaction!!
Love this so much. I scan my kids instagram account often and see other kids making very rude and sometimes bully style comments. It’s so scary out there in the digital social media world
I don’t have children myself but one of my best friends is expecting her first child in December, so I will send this post over to her 🙂 it might her in the future x
We are constantly monitoring our kids accounts. These tips are great for children of any age.
The internet can be a scary place! With great parenting, and this post as a guideline, we can teach our kids to be good citizens on the internet.
The internet can be so scary. There is so much that you don’t know about when it comes to being online. I monitor my kids very closely even though they just play games online. Bullying has gotten horrible, and online is just the worst.
I’m going to have to check out Google’s Be Internet Awesome. It sounds like a great program to use with the kids.
I think it is really important to teach kids to be kind. I have had to really monitor my daughter’s texting.
This is spot on, and totally something we have to teach our kids. I remind my girls this!
It’s so important to keep kids safe online! I’m always talking to my kids about online safety. It’s a huge concern for me.
This is such a great campaign from Google! I hope more kids will be responsible when using the internet.
How unfair – I thought growing up that we had it hard, but bullying back in 90’s was a relatively open act, while now it is very hard to know what is going on between the teen his computer screen.
Bullying online is getting worse these days. I agree, it all starts with your family. I’ma big supporter for causes and programs like this!
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