Why Digital Citizenship Matters Now More Than Ever
Our students are growing up in a media saturated environment where digital interactions shape their identities, friendships/relationships and how they view and understand the world around them. From influencers to viral videos to AI-generated content, the media they consume is increasingly complex and persuasive. Without an understanding of digital citizenship and strong media literacy skills, our students are left vulnerable to accepting misinformation and easily persuaded through manipulation. Technology can both support and hinder social emotional development, making it essential that parents, caregivers and educators guide students in navigating their screen time and the overwhelming feelings that can sometimes go along with online interactions.
While teaching digital citizenship is not new, and we have been teaching related lessons for almost two decades, there is still a need for these skills to be taught in a more integrated fashion. Digital citizenship education gives students the tools to reflect, question, and engage online responsibly. These skills are relevant across all grade levels and subject areas, and have a greater impact on students when incorporated into all core subjects. Gone are the days when lessons should only be taught as stand alone, as these Common Sense Education topics (healthy habits, privacy & safety, digital footprint & identity, relationships & communication, cyberbullying & online harms, information & media literacy) can be woven into any classroom subject or assignment, especially in the age of AI.
Digital Citizenship Lesson Integration Examples for Educators
Our Board-adopted Common Sense Education curriculum can be integrated in many ways including the examples listed below.
- Primary teachers can build social emotional skills through lessons like Words Can Help or Hurt and Is It Just a Joke?
- Intermediate teachers can dive into healthy digital habits with lessons like Understanding Design Tricks and Healthy Tech Habits & Our Feelings.
- Math teachers can explore the concepts of inputs/outputs and AI training/algorithms through lessons like: AI Algorithms: How Well Do They Know You? and How Is AI Trained?
- Economics, civics, and history teachers can discuss the impact of artificial intelligence using the How AI Bias Impacts Our Lives lesson or explore the spread of misinformation/disinformation with lessons like Hoaxes and Fakes or Challenging Confirmation Bias.
- Science teachers can dive into training and testing data and how it relates to the scientific process through the Understanding AI Bias lesson.
- Engineering and robotics teachers can explore the concepts of AI training through the How Is AI Trained? lesson.
- Arts Education teachers can engage students in critiques of AI generated content.
- Physical Education and Health teachers can talk about how media affects overall health using the The Health Effects of Screen Time or Digital Media and Your Brain lessons.
- English teachers can ask students to evaluate AI generated writing samples and compare those samples to rubrics they use in class.
Digital Citizenship Week and Families
Digital Citizenship Week (October 20-24, 2025) is a great time to explore the resources that Common Sense Education has available for families, and their Digital Literacy & Well-Being Resources for Family Engagement page is a great place to start.
By having these critical conversations in every subject area, we shift the narrative from a list of forbidden online behaviors to a framework for active and ethical participation. Our goal is to prepare students for a future where they can confidently question the media they consume, manage their digital identity with integrity, and communicate with empathy. Let’s use the opportunity of Digital Citizenship Week to deepen our commitment, as both educators and caregivers, to fostering a generation that is not just digitally savvy, but also digitally wise.
