2-2 Discussion

   I can honestly say that I haven't really given much thought to my digital footprint, but after watching the Digital Dossier video, it is kind of mind blowing to think about.  When I think about the tracks I've left online, it makes me wonder how mine compare to others.  Then I think about the younger generations who are more immersed into social media than I ever was at their age.  Sometimes this bothers me because I think of how easy it is to make mistakes online, even as an adult.  When you get behind a keyboard, it's easier to say whatever is on your mind without thinking about the repercussions of what you might be saying.  Anonymity makes it easy to be hateful or say too much without taking any responsibility.  Now, more than ever, we need to be educating our students on how to become responsible users on the internet so that they don't make mistakes that will follow them for the rest of their lives.
 
   I believe that students need to be educated on this as young as possible.  Kindergartners, obviously, will not need the same education as older students, but I think it's best to start teaching kids how to use the internet when they are young.  I remember talking to a group of 6th graders once about things they post online and many of them hadn't even given it much thought or realized how much it could affect their lives or the people around them.  It has to be extremely hard to grow up in this social media crazy society because it seems like everything gets documented.  I would be a nervous wreck if I had to do high school all over again in this day and age because I'd constantly be afraid that something very embarrassing would end up on YouTube that would follow me forever.  The fact is that there is proper etiquette that should be followed online and someone has to teach kids this because, for the most part, we're still testing out the water on many things and it's best to know what that etiquette entails so that those big mistakes can be avoided. The module overview this week gives great examples of rules to follow like, respecting yourself and others and protecting yourself.  While we don't want to scare kids so much that they are afraid to use the internet, they do need to know the dangers of being naive about certain things.  Unfortunately, common sense isn't so common and we need to make sure we give students the tools necessary to be productive and responsible while creating their own digital footprint.