Digital Law

    Students, like all individuals using technology, sometimes use it the way it was intended.  Evaluating or critiquing the young requires that adults honestly consider at themselves and their actions.  What ethical behaviors do adults model for students?  Do instructors engage students in thought-provoking discussion and allow them to practice (supported) digital discernment?  Undoubtedly, abuse and misuse of technology exist; young peoples’ moral compasses develop incrementally and require guidance along the way. Certainly children who have never known any world other than the digital age face the particular danger of not entertaining any options to unethical digital behaviors.  This conundrum underscores why educating students regarding their choices is important.
    Sometimes students do infringe on others’ rights by the way they use technology.  Inculcating the young with a sense of responsibility, honesty, and integrity regarding technology is a necessary step to preventing such infringements.  For example, though students may be tempted to plagiarize, those who have been instructed upon the implications of such an action for their character and upon its potential academic and legal consequences would be less likely to do so.  Downloading material illegally, sharing too much information about oneself, or accessing inappropriate media likewise carries social and possibly legal ramifications which could follow a student for years.  Awareness of such issues and engagement in ongoing discussion tends to provide a measure of inoculation against unethical behaviors.
    Students should definitely be accountable for their use of digital technologies.  While as Johnson and the Ribble text have pointed out the pitfalls of overreacting to a breach of ethical behavior, students need to have age-appropriate consequences for their actions, good or bad.  As painful as it can be, allowing students to experience the effects of their judgement with unconditional support from family and educators provides an undoubtedly memorable learning experience.