Cybersafe Young Children

Learn how to integrate lessons about good digital citizenship into the daily life of the early childhood classroom. Based on reviews of empirical research, this book addresses the need for a new educational paradigm that will enable educators to help young children develop the skills and ethical behaviors they will need to thrive in both the real and digital worlds. Cybersafe Young Children provides a rationale for addressing issues of cyber safety and children’s usage of social media in the early grades to prevent later harmful behavior, such as cyberbullying. Written from a developmental perspective, it offers practical classroom strategies for fostering positive digital citizenship in young children. Book Features: Addresses cyber safety before children become fully immersed in digital communication.Reviews important research with practical applications for K–3 teachers.Grounded in social emotional learning, literacy, executive function, and conceptual skill development.Provides suggested readings and annotated lists of children’s books and organizational resources. “For young children to be CyberSafe, their parents, caregivers, family members, teachers, and teacher educators need to embrace the developmentally—informed knowledge, skills, and evidence-based strategies found in these pages. With guidance from well-prepared media mentors, young children can learn to safely and mindfully use digital devices at home and in school as powerful tools for their learning, social-emotional development, communication, and collaboration to become effective digital citizens in their real and digital worlds.” —Chip Donohue, principal, Donohue and Associates, founding director, Technology in Early Childhood (TEC) Center at Erikson Institute, senior fellow and advisor, Fred Rogers Center