The first thought I have when I think about an ideal digital citizen is obeying copyright laws. I know of so many people who have downloaded music and movies illegally, it honestly makes me sick. In the dorm at Johnson it even occurred. In fact, with one guy in particular, he was like a modern day pirate: almost everything electronic in his room was stolen. I cannot believe Christians participate in these actions. Thus, a model digital citizen obeys copyright laws in my opinion, and the adults and students I know do not meet this definition well. Even with pictures, I believe they fail to miss the point about using other person's hard work. I must say, however, that with the emergence of iTunes and Youtube offering more avenues to watch movies (same with Hulu), I believe this aspect of digital citizenship is improving. I have hope for the future adults and students of the digital world; mainly because uploading their own work to the internet is becoming more commonplace. It will almost create a mutual bond among people; at least that is my outlook as of right now.
Another aspect of my opinion about an ideal digital citizen is that they respect others on the web. Cyber-bullying cannot occur with an good digital citizen. Cyber-bullies target people who often seem inferior to themselves, but this aggression is motivated by being insecure with themselves or having been bullied themselves. Like I stated in an earlier blog post, I have never experienced this before but it is not hard to imagine it occurring at a devastating level. When it comes to adults measuring up to this I believe they do a fairly good job of being a digital citizen. I have never encountered one adult bullying another, however, I cannot say it has never happened. With students, however, I believe cyber-bullying has become a problem but not a major one. Students of course bullying one another more so than adults, but I believe cyber-bullying is better than bullying in real life, unless of course it occurs to a student in both. So in conclusion, if someone obeys copyright laws and respects others while online, I believe they possess good qualities of a digital citizen. I know other characteristics exist, however, these two in my opinion are essential.
Sexting is something I have never heard of until I read it in the textbook. I'm not sure if a felony is appropriate in a case of sexting, but possibly a slap on the wrists would be more appropriate. I will say, however, every situation should be treated differently so I cannot make a universal comment about sexting and its legal consquences. I find this practice nothing new. Students have been making sexual comments toward one another for decades (or longer!); this practice just leaves an electronic paper trail for evidence. Students used paper in the past and probably stone even further back. I do, however, believe it is a disgusting practice and should not be allowed, especially in the classroom. We need, according to Maslow, a safe environment for students to learn. The teachers must prevent sexting from even occurring in the classroom to begin with by not allowing them to play with their phones. I know it probably occurs more outside the school environment, and as a teacher, all I can do is communicate with parents to let them know the dangers of their children having unmonitored cell phones. If this did happen in my classroom, I would immediately take away the cell phones and notify adminstration on the first offense. I will not allow my safe classroom environment to be destroyed by sexting.
This is my last blog post from the SMART track. I have enjoyed this homework assignment. Thanks Dr. Krug!
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