What are the challenges of digital citizenship for young internet users?

For active participation and developing responsible digital citizenship, educational policies must align with the current context. It is necessary to provide digital literacy to "digital natives," who may have skills but not always the ability to solve problems on digital platforms. Often, the risks they face reveal their ignorance of issues arising from irresponsible digital behavior. What social institution ensures new generations act ethically, appropriately, and responsibly? Families are often uninformed, the educational system fails to update the curriculum according to contextual needs, and people end up exploring through trial and error, creating a gap between those with more developed resources.

The best way I can explain privacy to you is by asking you to imagine a room with a glass wall in your house. Even when there is no one outside the window watching you, you will always be aware of the glass wall whenever you are in that room and will be careful about all the activities you do there. Agreed? That is exactly how the internet is. It is like that room with a glass wall. It isn't a bad place to be, but you should always be careful in this room called the internet as a digital citizen. Just because you don't see anyone doesn't mean nobody is watching you. Hence, make sure you learn about very common internet terms like cookies and social media scroll tracking to understand how the internet is tracking your every step.

As sad as it is, this is something that no digital citizen can avoid. But why? Because once a young adult reaches a stage where they are away from their family, their friends don't meet them every day anymore, and they have to work to survive and grow, the internet pretty much becomes their primary source of information due to social media and how actively we are all engaged in one form of social media or another. One way I protect myself from critical consumption is through my individuality. My critical thinking, pattern recognition, originality, and open mind play crucial roles in preventing the internet from consuming me. Getting out of my comfort zone in real life helps me a lot to deal with what I interact with on the internet.

The internet was created to help you with your life; NOT to be your life. The internet was created to stay in touch with your friends; NOT to be your friend. Being a digital citizen and growing up seeing everything around you slowly and steadily move towards the internet makes it incredibly hard to suddenly think about the footsteps you leave behind and how you become a responsible citizen maintaining a checklist containing a million checkboxes. One simple, yet often neglected suggestion is to avoid being a hypocrite. The more self-aware you are, the easier it is for you to be a responsible citizen, both digitally and otherwise. Try not to intentionally hurt people, especially if it would hurt you had you been on the receiving end.