Good citizens respect the laws of their community, always striving to uphold the standards for safe, appropriate, and respectful behavior set by that community. Good citizens acknowledge and are guided by moral and ethical guidelines in their decision-making and in their interactions with others. They show care and concern for themselves, for their neighbors, and for others in their community. Good citizens respect the property of others and expect others to do the same for them.
These expectations apply equally to the good “digital citizen” in the cyber-world. Good digital citizens respect laws regarding the use of digital media, processes, and technologies; strive to uphold the standards for safe, appropriate, and respectful behavior set by their digital communities; acknowledge and are guided by moral and ethical guidelines in their decision-making with regard to the use of technology and in their digital interactions with others; show care and concern for themselves and for others in their digital communities; act with respect and care for themselves, for others and for the equipment that they use in navigating their digital communities. These expectations apply equally to whatever device used(laptop, desktop, tablet, phone, etc.) or form of communication used (voice, e-mail, text, Facebook, Twitter, Skype, etc.).
Academy considers there to be three keys to digital citizenship: looking after yourself, looking after the well-being of others, and looking after the property of others.
LOOKING AFTER YOURSELF includes:
Choosing online names that are suitable and respectful.
- Only inviting people you actually know in the real world to be your friends in the online world.
- Only visiting sites that are appropriate and respecting the rules that websites have about age. (Some sites are only for adults. If you wouldn’t feel comfortable showing the website to your parents or grandparents, then it’s not appropriate.)
- Setting your privacy settings so that only the people you know can see you and your personal information.
- Only putting information online that is appropriate and only posting pictures that are suitable. (Not everyone seeing your profile or pictures will be friendly.)
- Promptly alerting a trusted adult, such as a teacher or parent, to anything that happens online that makes you feel uncomfortable, anxious, or worried.
- Talking to trusted adults, including your parents and teachers, about your online experiences – the good and the bad. Ensuring that any online information that you use is accurate. (Anyone can say anything on the web, so you need to verify that the information is correct by using only reliable sites; if you’re not sure, ask your parents, a teacher, or a librarian.)
- Ensuring that any online information that you use is properly cited. (The wealth of information easily available online is a great resource, but we must always give credit where credit is due.)
LOOKING TO THE WELL-BEING OF OTHERS includes:
- Choosing not to send or forward hurtful or inappropriate messages to others.
- Choosing not to get involved in conversations that are demeaning, hurtful, or inappropriate.
- Choosing to falsely represent yourself as someone you are not.
- Choosing not to make, post, or share audio, photo, or video recordings of others – whether students, parents, guests, teachers, or administrators – without their prior knowledge and expressed prior permission to do so.
- Bringing to the attention of a caring adult any communications you come across that are demeaning, hurtful, or inappropriate. (Imagine those conversations being about you; if you would find them demeaning, hurtful, or inappropriate, then they probably are.)
- Avoiding websites that are not suitable because they involve people communicating or behaving inappropriately or illegally. If you visit one by accident, close it and alert a caring adult right away.
- Showing respect for other’s privacy by joining their online spaces only when invited to do so, by interacting with their online spaces in only an appropriate manner, and by using information and images found on their online spaces in only appropriate ways.
LOOKING AFTER THE PROPERTY OF OTHERS includes:
- Paying for copyrighted digital media that you download. (It’s easy to download music, games, movies, software, etc., but downloading copyrighted media for which you’ve not paid is stealing online from the artists and creators of such media.)
- Choosing not to share copyrighted digital media that you’ve downloaded.
- Looking after other people’s websites, acting appropriately when visiting them.
- Choosing not to download or install any software or files onto a school device without the prior expressed permission of a teacher.
By signing this agreement below, I acknowledge that I have carefully read this document and that I will be bound by these guidelines and expectations in all of my digital interactions and use of technology. I understand that the Academy does not tolerate demeaning, hurtful, inappropriate, or harassing behavior in any form, whether conducted in person or electronically, on campus or off-campus. Further, I understand that violations of this policy may result in disciplinary action up to and including the confiscation of devices, the loss of technology privileges, suspension, and/or separation from the school, depending on the severity of the violation.