How to Build Digital Literacy for Your K-8 Child | K12 Schools

Tablets, smartphones and other digital devices are part of the modern classroom and social scene. But – as with any tool – training, practice and positive modeling are needed for elementary and middle school children to realize the benefits of technology and minimize the risks.

“Not teaching digital literacy or too much digital media can increase the likelihood of cyberbullying, privacy violations and digital comparison,” says Dr. Pamela Hurst-Della Pietra, founder and president of Children and Screens: Institute of Digital Media and Child Development, an international nonprofit organization based in New York.

During the height of the coronavirus pandemic, when many young learners shifted to online school, screen time and media exposure skyrocketed. An excess of digital media exposure in and out of the classroom is nothing new, however. A 2019 Common Sense Media survey showed that U.S. children ages 8 to 12 were averaging nearly five hours of screen time per day. And that didn’t include use of screens at school or for homework.

Meanwhile, a digital divide persists in the U.S. between K-12 students who have access to reliable high-speed internet, a functioning e-learning device or both, and classmates who do not. The number of “unconnected or under-connected” students decreased from more than 15 million in March 2020 to 12 million in December 2020, thanks in large part to federal pandemic relief funds, according to a study from Boston Consulting Group, Common Sense and the Southern Education Foundation.

Still, many solutions were temporary to aid with online learning, and millions of students – disproportionately minority or rural – lack access to necessary digital tools.

Parents can guide children in elementary and middle school to responsibly consume and interpret digital media, from learning how to identify credible online sources to recognizing how social media posts and comments create a digital footprint that lives in the cloud indefinitely.

Digital literacy, also referred to as digital citizenship, includes internet etiquette, filtering information, making sound decisions related to posting and leveraging the benefits of the online world in a fast-evolving digital universe.

“Having kids learn skills like coding and programming at an early age can set them up for an advantage in the workforce,” says Katie Siu, who runs Teach Your Kids Code, an online platform that seeks to “engage kids in technology in a meaningful way.”

Here are some healthy strategies for parents to guide their elementary and middle schoolers as they navigate modern digital media at home and school.

Rather than dictating screen time restrictions, parents can gain buy-in and understanding from their child by making the rules together.

“Get kids involved in setting those boundaries,” Siu says. “When you allow kids to take part in the decision-making, they are more likely to follow through.”

The American Academy of Pediatrics developed a Family Media Plan to guide parents and children, and it includes a media time calculator that creates customized individual daily schedules for online and offline activities.

Starting slow and granting more technology access over time is easier than beginning with too much and having to reel back, says Karen Redmond, technology innovation specialist at Laurel School in Shaker Heights, Ohio.

“It helps if parents set clear expectations when children first have access to social media or phone/tablet use, including the amount of time to use it, expectations for how kids will use their devices, what is off limits, and what access parents will have to their accounts,” Redmond wrote in an email.

Parents can also help children understand what is appropriate to post or share on the internet – and social media in particular – by being role models.

“If you walk in the door after work, put down the cellphone before you walk in the door, and in that same way, you want your kids to greet you and not continue playing that video game,” Hurst-Della Pietra says.

She also recommends asking children for permission before posting their pictures to social media. “Many parents want to show everything about their little ones, so they can demonstrate safe ways of sharing.”

Parents can encourage their children to ask questions and seek answers about the information they encounter online.

“Ask, ‘Do you think what he/she said is true?'” Hurst-Della Pietra advises. “We are really quite accustomed to jumping on to Google for answers, and it’s important for parents to ask kids what they think to build (digital literacy) skills.”

As children grow older, parents can share videos and pictures they see together on social media and ask, “What do you think about this?” Hurst-Della Pietra suggests. This exercise can help reduce digital comparison, she says.

“Especially as kids get into middle school, they see the perfect body or peers doing things that they are not allowed to do, and they might feel bad about that and it can affect their self-identification. So it’s important for parents to really take a strong role and be at the forefront of those conversations.”

Social media posts, YouTube comments, TikTok videos and other online activities are even more lasting than tattoos – they’re permanently online.

“With everything we do on the internet, there is a footprint that’s left behind,” Siu says, emphasizing that families discuss how information is also searchable and can be found later, such as when a child is applying for jobs or even colleges. “What we put on the internet is out there for others to consume.”

Siu suggests an activity that can help kids understand this concept in a tangible way, since the online universe truly is a cloud. A parent can take or draw a picture of his or her arm or hand, then write posts or draw in ink on the picture. “The point is to show that you have a digital tattoo, and you have to be careful about what you put out there.”

The younger set, K-2, can learn how to properly care for devices along with why, when and how to access the internet, Redmond says. “Help students understand which sites are right for them and what to do if they end up at the wrong website.”

Now is also the time to begin discussing online safety and avoiding inappropriate sites, along with understanding who is behind screen names. Parents can emphasize to children the importance of “friending” only people they know and trust.

Children in grades three and four should begin to learn the norms of online communities, including privacy and security, and not oversharing, Redmond says. “Students are collaborating in Google Drive regularly at this point,” she says. “We stress the importance of thinking before posting anything.”

Middle school students should learn to establish balance as they begin to learn about effective search techniques and source credibility and attribution. “Taking breaks from devices is important and necessary,” Redmond says, adding that this is also the time to emphasize the digital footprint.

It’s also important to establish healthy habits, like keeping digital media out of the bedroom at night. “Get your kids a digital alarm clock so they are not waking up in the middle of the night to be on their iPads or other devices,” Hurst-Della Pietra says.

Digital tools are ingrained in today’s classrooms, and collaborative learning experiences include project-sharing, group work and sharing comments or discussion related to instruction, according to the U.S. Department of Education.

To help children determine what information is credible, Hurst-Della Pietra recommends the “CRAP” test. Is the news or information current (C) and reputable (R)? Does the article have an author (A), and who is it? Finally, what is the purpose (P) of the information? Is it news, research or advertising?

“Kids need to be aware that there is a lot of information on the internet that is not true,” Siu says, “and parents need to teach if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”