Digital Etiquette and Responsible Social Interactions

“You guys all have your own YouTube channels?”

“Of course we do!” One fifth -grade student responded incredulously.

“What do you guys put on there?”

“You know, stuff, like funny stuff, I haven’t had many views, so I want to start doing more popular things.”

            This interaction may surprise many educators, because even for those who are aware of the millions of “YouTubers” in the internet world it is shocking that eleven year olds spend their afternoons trying to come up with things to get more views on their channels. There are many positive implications to this because it means that students are being innovative and learning how to operate successfully in a technological culture, but what tends to press on one’s mind is that children are making themselves more vulnerable to the whims of the internet opinion and media scrutiny. Scrolling through the comments left on any YouTube video, one can find many negative and demeaning comments, the “Kill Yourself” ‘joke’ being an incredibly popular choice. This chilling reality is also an opportunity for teachers to open up a dialogue with their students about proper digital etiquette and responsible social interactions in an interactive and productive way. Having students build a flow chart addressing mediums, methods, and message (an “upside –down www” for an effective memorization technique) can cover a multitude of standards as well as help students become more ethical members of the internet community.

            In the first week of school, or while introducing technology in the classroom, students should work together to build a flowchart addressing mediums, methods, and message, that help students make a decision about whether or not to post/send or share information on social networking and messaging sites/ devices. The ‘medium’ can be anything the students are engaged in using, any site that is relevant to their lives, YouTube, e-mail, Facebook, texts, blogs, Snapchat, Tumblr or Twitter are examples of mediums. ‘Methods’ include what students are doing on these sites, posting videos, status updates, e-mails, blogging, texting, comments, threads, pictures and so on. The ‘message’ covers literary techniques and answers the questions: “Who is it for?” “What am I communicating?” “Will this person understand what I am trying to say?” which will open up discussions about when to use abbreviations, sarcastic humor, opinions, bold claims, and formal versus informal language. Along with a large poster of this flowchart that should hang in the front of the room, students should all have one printout to take home to discuss with their parents, and one printout to leave in their desks. Quick writes can be assigned regularly where students must “comment” on a Facebook post, or send an e-mail to a hypothetical employer. They can even have video projects where they explain how to do certain things or about certain subjects for their class members, and every classmate is required to write a comment about what they saw. In this way, teachers can build a classroom community that welcomes positive interactions in a social media format.
            Parents must be fully aware of how your classroom is incorporating digital etiquette and responsible social interactions into regular content. They need to be aware of what social media their children are engaged in, and monitor them frequently. They may even consider disabling comment capabilities on sites such as YouTube to protect their children from cyber –bullying and other inappropriate content. Creating an honest, positive and safe environment to discuss their involvement with the internet in a social way with adults they trust can prevent serious harm to children over the internet. It is important for all students to know that everything they post online has consequences.