Technology Tips

What is responsible digital citizenship?

Being a responsible digital citizen means having the online social skills to take part in online community life in an ethical and respectful way.

Responsible digital citizenship also means:

Behaving lawfully – for example, it’s a crime to hack, steal, illegally download or cause damage to other people’s work, identity or property online
Protecting your privacy and that of others
Recognising your rights and responsibilities when using digital media
Thinking about how your online activities affect yourself, other people you know, and the wider online community.

Be respectful – and expect respect

Respect for yourself and other people is important in all relationships, and it’s no different when you’re online.

You can encourage your child to treat online friends with as much respect as face-to-face friends. Part of this is not creating or forwarding nasty or humiliating emails, images or text messages about someone else.

You can also encourage your child to tell you or another trusted adult if they see someone being bullied or attacked online. Young people often try to sort things out for themselves, but it’s good to get your child into the habit of telling you if they’re worried about something that’s happening online. It might help your child to know that things are easier to sort out when other people help.

If your child gets any nasty or bullying comments, they should block or unfriend people who don’t treat them with respect. This sends the message that it’s not OK to mistreat or bully someone online.

Protect your reputation

Make sure your child understands the consequences of posting photos and videos, and uploading other personal content. Once this content is online, it’s very hard to get rid of and can become part of your child’s permanent online reputation. Also, photos can be altered or shared without your child’s permission.

It’s a good idea to encourage your child to think about the online content or behaviour their future self might be comfortable with. For example, you might say, ‘Some photos and videos might seem OK to you now, but you might feel differently about them in the future and not want people to see them’.

Depending on your child’s age, you could agree that they show you posts, images and other content before they upload them.