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Digital Citizenship
Students live online, but few are taught how to do it well. Digital citizenship is the set of habits — safety, kindness, and critical thinking — that keep them safe and make them trustworthy online. It fits into any subject, in small doses.
Teach it in moments, not a unit
You don't need a separate course. A two-minute conversation when it comes up — a questionable source, an unkind comment, an AI shortcut — teaches more than a one-off assembly.
What you'll learn
- Help students protect their privacy and personal information
- Give them a fast routine for judging whether a source is trustworthy
- Build a shared language for kindness and reporting online
- Teach students what AI is, where it's wrong, and how to use it honestly
The five habits
| Habit | The question students ask |
|---|---|
| Safe | "Is this safe to share, click, or download?" |
| Private | "Who can see this, and forever?" |
| Kind | "Would I say this to their face?" |
| Critical | "How do I know this is true?" |
| Honest | "Is this my work — and did I say how I used AI?" |
In this section
Ready-made curricula
If you want a full scope-and-sequence, Common Sense Education offers free, grade-banded digital-citizenship lessons you can drop in. This track focuses on the moments and mindsets you can teach today.