At Orchard School, students are involved in Common Sense Media's programs for digital citizenship. The goal of these programs is to help children to think critically, participate responsibly, and behave ethically in their online lives. Subjects from text messaging to social media to online gaming are discussed in ways that support rich and relevant conversations.

Fourth and fifth grade students work through Common Sense Media's Digital Passport lessons, which includes videos, three levels of gameplay, collaborative offline activities and aligned Digital Citizenship activities. The topics for the five weeks of lessons include multitasking with a cell phone, evaluating online messages, cyberbullying, searching online with effective keywords and remixing media content to create a new creative piece while crediting sources.

Additional resources are available for parents in Common Sense Media's Connecting Families site. A free, year-long program includes a guide, conversation topics and printable resources.

Parents, for more helpful advice on parenting in the digital age, please take a look at the links from Common Sense Media below.

Family Tip Sheets

 Parenting, Media, and Everything In Between