Digital Citizenship teaches online safety
Dec. 1—As teens and young kids become more engrossed in the digital world, many parents and officials have become concerned with their safety in online spheres. Tackling topics ranging from media balance to online harassment, Sutter County Probation Office is introducing Digital Citizenship to middle schools in Sutter County.
Deputy Probation Officer Tatiana Hernadez delivered a presentation to parents at Live Oak Middle School on Tuesday to inform them about Digital Citizenship curriculum that will be introduced to students.
The program is geared toward sixth and eighth grade students to prepare them for online etiquette as they are entering middle school and high school, Hernandez said. Sixth grade students were expected to start learning about Digital Citizenship this semester, while eighth grade students will start in the upcoming spring semester.
Sutter County Probation officials believe that integrating the program at these grade levels is a proactive response to dangerous behavior on social media. Deputy Chief Probation Officer Donya Thompson said that both Sutter County Probation and area schools have seen a rise in inappropriate use of social media and texting, which has led to school interventions and, in some cases, citations or arrests.
"The biggest misconception we hear is that this can't happen now, my kids are too young, or this won't happen until later. We're seeing kids as young as 12 exhibit troubling behavior online," Hernandez said.
Sutter County Probation began researching curriculum for Digital Citizenship in March. All juvenile probation officers, an intervention counselor, and several adult probation officers were trained in facilitating the curriculum, Thompson said.
Increased social media use can significantly impact a child's mental health, she said. As kids grow older, they begin to prioritize their peers' opinions and influence over their lives. On social media, this can look like curating a perfect image of their lives to impress their friends, Hernandez said. If they are unable to meet these standards or compare themselves to others who appear to have this perfect image, it can lead to feelings of inadequacy.
"Looking at social media and seeing people who have it all when they don't can make them feel worthless. It's a competition you can't win. Kids spiral through the TikTok algorithm," Hernandez said.
Digital Citizenship encourages kids to think critically about the information they come across online whether it comes in the form of misinformation or edited photos of social media influencers. Hernandez urged parents to assess whether their children are knowledgeable enough to distinguish real and fake news on their own, and to help them question the material that appears on their screens.
"There's a sense of unobtainable beauty on social media. No one says they used filters or photoshops when they post a selfie," she said.
The program also places a strong focus on identifying harassment and online predators. Hernandez said that people actively harming children online practice a much more intelligent form of stalking than asking for a child's sensitive information.
"These people aren't going to ask for their name, address and schedule outright. Instead, they may ask where a kid is from, what their school mascot is, what their school colors are, and then they've narrowed down their location to these options in the area," she said.
Predators may pose as other kids to earn a child's trust or seek out kids who feel emotionally weak and outcasted from their peers. Hernandez said that kids can be put at risk for sexual exploitation or human trafficking once a predator establishes trust online. She also believes that kids in the Yuba-Sutter area are at a unique risk for trafficking due to their proximity to major highways and the Sacramento International Airport.
Digital Citizenship is being introduced to local students to help them develop the skills necessary to navigate online circles and relationships. Because middle school students are one of the first generations to grow up alongside the internet, Thompson believes that establishing boundaries and recognizing the risks of social media is crucial to maintaining a healthy relationship with the internet.
"We hope the youth leave the program with a better understanding of the digital world, that much of it is curated for a specific purpose, and that what they put out into the digital world can come back to haunt them later, so to take into careful consideration what they post, how they interact with others online, and that if all of this is taken into consideration, the digital world can be used in a healthy and positive way," Thompson said.
