FCPS Shared Responsibility Statement

The past decade has seen an exponential increase in digital tools and opportunities, which carry the need for students to master a new set of life skills for behaving safely, ethically and responsibly online.   Students are much more likely to understand good digital citizenship — the norms of appropriate, responsible technology use — when teachers and parents/trusted adults model it and explicitly teach and promote it on a regular basis.

-Helen Crompton, Know the ISTE Standards for Teachers: Model Digital Citizenship

To that end, it's not just one person's job to teach digital citizenship to our students, but everyone's shared responsibility.

In order to reach the best outcomes for our students, FCPS approaches Digital Citizenship Education by promoting shared responsibility among school staff, parents, and students.  The shared responsibility model below outlines how each stakeholder plays a vital role in ensuring that students learn to use technology safely, responsibly, and ethically, and learn to develop healthy habits and self-monitoring skills around the use of technology.

Students will:

• work with their parents and teachers to learn how technology is used for learning and to advance their college and career goals.
• proactively approach their use of technology with empathy, ethics, and a sense of individual, social, and civic responsibility.
• use technology in a safe and respectful manner.
• understand their rights and abide by the responsibilities set forth in the FCPS Student Rights and Responsibilities.
• use technology as described in the FCPS Acceptable Use Policy when at school and when using school resources.
• follow the rules and expectations set by their parents/caregivers at home.

Instructional staff will:

• work in partnership with administration and parents to quickly address inappropriate use and provide the necessary supports to ensure that all students have a safe online environment in which to learn.
• model and explicitly teach healthy, safe, responsible, and respectful use of technology.
• employ best practices for the use of technology for teaching and learning as defined in the FCPS Instructional Framework.
• embed digital citizenship concepts within content instruction on an on-going basis to ensure the safe and effective use of technology.
• provide authentic opportunities for students to participate digitally, in order to practice the skills they need to leverage technology for learning and also to demonstrate the behaviors of a good digital citizen.
• teach the required lesson each year as indicated in the FCPS Digital Citizenship K-12 Curriculum.
• utilize additional Digital Citizenship curriculum and resources to further support students' knowledge and skill development, and to provide positive behavior supports and interventions as appropriate.

Parents are urged to:

• work in partnership with their children’s school to quickly address inappropriate use, and provide the necessary supports so all students have a safe online space in which to learn.
• model and explicitly teach healthy, safe, responsible, and respectful use of technology.
• complete the Digital Citizenship for Families with Teens online course in partnership with their children, leveraging the parts of the course that are appropriate for their family.
• reference the FCPS Student Rights and Responsibilities as rules and expectations, and discuss consequences for misuse.
• establish and uphold expectations around device and media use that support safe, healthy, and respectful technology use at home.
• participate actively in their children’s media use to help them understand and interpret what they see and read online, and to guide them in their online interactions.
• use the resources provided on the FCPS Digital Citizenship website and other reputable organizations to proactively support and prepare their children  for digital life.