Citizenship describes how you interact with and belong to a community. Being a citizen involves having cetrain rights and also cetrian responsibilities. Active citizenship describes the ways in which you interact responsibly with others in your community and how you work to make your community better.
With the invention of digital, firbre optic, infrared, and bluetooth technologies; mobile phones, computers and the internet have created a new cyber community.
Putting these two words together, cyber and citizenship, we now need to ask ourselves,
"Am I a good cybercitizen?"
In order be a good cybercitizen it is important to first understand how communities are formed and how citizens in differnt types of communities interact.
What is a community?
In the past, your parents may have described their community as the neighbourhood, or city where they grew up. Your parents probably knew most of their neighbours by name and could describe the physical appearance of the members of their community because they had spent time together interacting in the physical world.
In contrast to the face to face reality that your parents and grandparents grew up in, the cyber community today is linked by an endless network of ethernet cables, radio towers and satellites orbiting the Earth, allowing your community to consist of people from all over the world; some of whom you may never actually meet during your lifetime.
Your parents have probably worked very hard to try to make sure that you attend a good school, you live in a nice neighbourhood and that you feel safe and secure in your surroundings. However, in the new digital world, the doors we use to access one another are not always visible and strangers we can't even see can interact inside our communities and find ways into our private lives.
The weirdest part is that some of these strangers aren't even real. Take spam for example. Has anyone ever had their email account taken over by a company trying to advertise a new product? Programs have been written to steal passwords and automatically send out messages from our email accounts. Getting a virus used to mean staying home from school, sick in bed. Today, getting a virus means that you didn't vaccinate your computer with the right anti-virus software and you may need to call an IT expert instead of a doctor.
Creating a safe community
Knowing how to stay safe has also changed. Staying safe involves a lot more today than making sure you always stick with a friend and that you get home before dark.
So, how can we stay safe?
Option One: Move out of the cybercommunity. Throw away your phone, remove your facebook account and delete your email and messaging services.
Option Two: Learn how to limit the membership in your community, maintain privacy and secure the entries to the world you choose to create.
How can we learn to use technology safely to make life better for ourselves and those around us?
This video is a good guide to the basics of being a safe cybercitizen on the internet. Take a look and share it with your friends.
TRUST is five letter word with a very big meaning. Has anyone ever said to you,
"Why won't you share your password with me? Don't you trust me?"
Remember, your personal login is like your passport into the cybercommunity and your passwords are the keys used to unlock the doors to where you want to go.
You don't go handing out keys to your house to all of your friends, so why would you give them a key to your cyberspaces?
I certainly wouldn't want anyone else taking my id and doing things that I will be held responsible for, like sending emails from my account.
Second, sometimes when I express my feelings to my friends, I just need to get something off my chest. Once I get my anger out, I often see things more clearly and change my point of view. I don't want everyone to know about it and if the wrong person reads what I share, they may get the wrong idea.
But what about when your friends don't respect your space?
Have you ever been just a little bit too curious?
What happens when there are breakins within the cybercommunity?
So you say that you never hand out your passwords and your computer is always locked when you are away from it. Remember the cybercommunity is a public space where the past, the present and the future blur into one. Unprotected property on the internet does not require a password to steal and, unlike rubbish you may throw away, even after you delete electronic files there may be duplicated copies which exist in places you never wanted them to be. Pics and images are not always protected and once they are posted, can you really control where they end up?
Cyberbullying
Cyberbullying is using the internet, a mobile phone, or other technology like a camera to hurt somebody or embarass them.
Text messages, IMs, blog posts and photos do not have to be seen by the person being bullied to take their effect. Here are some things to consider.
Would you say it to her face?
A special talent that might get a laugh, but is it really funny?
Communicate Respectfully and Responsibly
Aside from cyberbullying which is usully quite clear in its message, sometimes the way we communicate can also cause others to feel uncomfortable.
Are you a text monster?
How do you handle a text monster?
Check out this interactive vid to learn more.
Are you a text monster? Remember that freedoms come with responsibilities. With the freedom of unlimited texting plans to your bf, bff, gf, or "bestie" comes the responsibility of respecting their inbox, their time and their decision to take a break from their mobile phone.
Under attack from a text monster? Believe it or not, ignoring text messages and IMs sometimes sends a different type of message to the person who is trying to reach you. The problem is, the message they received may not be the one you wish you had sent. Although it is hard to front up and talk about your feelings, avoiding the issue allows stress to build up and causes more problems.
Clear communication is Key!
Invisible Scars
Unlike physical bullying, victims of cyberbullying show no scratches, bruises or broken bones. Often, victims of cyberbullying suffer in silence. They may feel alone, hurt and even frightened to see the people they suspect may be the bullies. Victims of cyberbullying may even feel embarrassed and ashamed to share their true feelings. It is way to easy for the effects of cyberbullying to build up to a point of crisis without anyone offering support for the victim before it is too late.
Watch this vid produced by Childnet International and consider how you may contribute to continuing or preventing cyberbullying.
Bystanders are people who witness cyberbullying. Salmivalli (1999) describes 4 types of bystander.
- Assistants: join in on bullying and help the bully
- Reinforcers: laugh and encourage the bully but don’t personally attack the target
- Outsiders: don’t get “involved”, but see it happen
- Defenders: Try to stop the bullying on behalf of the target
How bystanders can help (retrieved from Netsafe on 20 November 2010)
Defenders can be very effective in addressing cyberbullying situations. Cyberbullying defenders can avoid the physical dangers of intervening in face-to-face bullying situations.
Bystanders can intervene anonymously – by telling someone/reporting abuse – and secretly – by talking directly to the target without an audience.
Bystanders to a cyberbullying situation help the person being bullied by letting them know that they support them.
In the previous video, the boy being bullied was able to overcome his bullies. However, there is an increaing number of teens todays who do not feel like they can go on suffering in silence.
"Growing up isn’t easy. Many young people face daily tormenting and bullying, leading them to feel like they have nowhere to turn. This is especially true for LGBT kids and teens, who often hide their sexuality for fear of bullying." - itgetsbetter.org
Following the suicides of Justin Aaberg, Billy Lucas, Cody Barker, Asher Brown, Seth Walsh, Raymond Chase, and Tyler Clementi an online campaign titled "it gets better" was launched. Although was first targeted to send a message of hope to bullied teens who struggle to understand and accept their sexuality, the campaign has grown to send a message of support for all who face opposition to being themselves.
The following two vids show how technology can be used to combat cyberbullying and how sharing positive messages also change the culture of the cybercommunity.
Jason Derulo
US President Barak Obama joins the campaign
President