By Al Kingsley
10/21/2024 – The Learning Counsel

A recent opinion piece in Education Week sums up the issues surrounding cell phones in schools quite well. Tom Moore, a high school IB teacher in New York City, wrote that the recent push to ban cell phones is really an attempt to find a simple answer to a much larger, more important issue: student mental health. Mr. Moore correctly points out that at its heart, the cell phone debate is really about our desire to protect students and give them a safe learning place where they feel listened to and validated.

This debate is a great backdrop for talking about Digital Citizenship and the elements that teach our students how to respect themselves and others via the technology they encounter every day. In several of my books, I have written at length about digital citizenship and nurturing it through a district technology plan, but here are some of the most essential elements and why they matter….Read Al Kingsley’s insight into digital citizenship here.