Vestal

Central School District

Digital Citizenship

The Vestal Central School District has made a commitment to preparing our students to be responsible, contributing members of society. Our mission statement says, “Each student will become a critical thinker, a lifelong learner and a responsible, contributing citizen in a changing global society.” The International Baccalaureate learner profile celebrates students who are open-minded, principled, caring, communicators and balanced. We recognize that today’s students live in two communities – “offline” and “online.” Our district is committed to teaching students how to act with integrity, compassion and civility in both communities. We seek to ensure that what students do in the online community advances their sense of self and enriches their relationships.

To achieve this, Vestal has implemented a digital citizenship curriculum. Students in grades 5, 8 and High School Health will experience lessons that help them understand the realities, rewards, and pitfalls of digital communities:

Grade 5: What is digital citizenship? And how can we be good digital citizens…

Students learn what digital citizenship is, the differences between online and offline communities and ways students can be good digital citizens.

Grade 8: Safety and Security in the Digital Age

Students explore how to be safe in the digital world including what to share and who to share it with and safe practices for navigating social media sites.

HS Health: Building a Positive Digital Tattoo

A student’s digital presence is like a tattoo, very difficult to remove once it is created. It also can portray students in a positive light – it can open opportunities or it can close doors. In this lesson students will discuss how what we say and publish online is permanent and can affect our lives in a positive or negative way.

Parents play an important role in supporting digital citizenship. To this end, we have created these online resources to help families instill in their children the attitudes and practices that ensure online and offline communities be places of growth and affirmation. Through positive, proactive responses that empower students to use digital technology responsibly, we set out to prevent incidents of cyberbullying and related harmful practices addressed in New York States legislation for schools, the Dignity for All Students Act (DASA).