Teen Digital Citizenship Challenge

clip art image of mountain with sun

 

Whether on or offline, making smart, healthy choices is important. Take the Teen Digital Citizenship Challenge and grow your digital literacy skills. The challenge includes resources to read and watch, as well as activities to help you learn about issues like privacy, advertising, bullying, fake news, and healthy media diets.

 

> DIGITAL ETIQUETTE

 

> HEALTHY DIGITAL MEDIA DIET

Balancing your time online and offline can be tricky, but it's important. How do you make sure you have enough time to read, learn, stay in touch, get exercise, create, sleep, and connect with friends and family in person?

 

> AUTHORSHIP & INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

Do you create and post online original artwork, fan fiction, or music? What happens when someone else shares or sells it? Do you still own it?

 

> SOCIAL MEDIA, BODY IMAGE, GENDER, & POPULARITY

  • THINK: What posts get the most attention? How can posts and images go wrong? How does gender impact what gets posted?

 

> FAKE NEWS

Can you tell the difference between fact and fiction in the news?

  • READ: How to Spot Fake News infographic
  • DO: Find a news headline, read the article, and visit one of these fact-checking sites to verify if the information is real.
  • THINK: When you share gossip, do you know if the information is fact or fiction? How will the gossip affect the person or people it's about?

 

> I'VE BEEN HACKED!

Do you know how to report a hacked social media account or innappropriate images, posts, or comments?

  • DO: Go to your favorite social media app and find where this information is located.

 

> PRIVACY

Whenever you post online, you create a digital footprint. Your online image will follow you wherever you go.

  • THINK: What do you want your personal brand to be when you apply for jobs, college, military service, or scholarships? What do you want your digital footprint to say about you?
  • DO: Make sure your passwords are secure and keep them private. Don't share them with friends.
  • DO: Make sure your social media privacy settings are up-to-date. Check them regularly because developers make changes often.

 

> BULLYING

"Bullying is unwanted, aggressive behavior...that involves a real or perceived power imbalance." [StopBullying.gov]

Sometimes bullying involves verbal threats, rumors, negative comments, or embarrassing images posted online, intentionally excluding someone from a group, or physical abuse.

 

> ADVERTISING

Ads are everywhere. Kids, teens, and adults need to be smart consumers of both products and ideas. Do you really want to buy what the advertiser is selling? You decide.

  • THINK: Choose an ad online, on TV, or in a magazine. Can you answer these three questions about the ad?
    • Who's responsible for the ad?
    • What is the ad actually saying?
    • What does it want you to buy, do, or think?
  • CREATE: Create an ad for a product using paper and pen, a digital image with an editing app, a video, or voice recording. Think about what you want to sell, who you want to sell it to, and what you want the buyer to know.