HuffPost High School and iKeepCurrent will explore digital citizenship: what it means to be an ethical, responsible and resilient digital citizen. Our partnership will provide a unique opportunity to include the youth voice often left silent in the online safety, security and ethics discussion.
This is what we know: the way students interact with each other online profoundly affects how they perceive themselves and engage with others offline. The reality is that our young people meet and bond emotionally through their digital devices. They develop relationships through a myriad of virtual platforms -- by joining social networks and receiving status updates; amassing lists of friends and groups; and receiving, texts, IMs and video messages.
Every day we learn of digital dramas and dilemmas that are rocking schools, regions or the entire nation. Although cyber incidents impact everyone, our students are usually found at the epicenter of these news stories. As these current events spill forth from our computers, mobiles and televisions, we're hit with the realization that we all have something to learn when it comes to digital citizenship.
That's why we've created the iKeepCurrent Generation Safe News Feed. As a constant source of thought-provoking, headline-inspired curricula and professional development, our newsfeed ignites discussion between parents, educators and students; forums are forged and ethical; secure and responsible online practices are debated.
And because adults don't solely shape what's happening now, we've got turn to our young technocrats who live these stories every day and have something to teach us in return. We see HuffPost High School as the perfect space in which parents and teachers hear it straight from the trenches -- from the young digital natives who are literally plugged in day and night.
HuffPost High School gives students a megaphone to shout out their experiences and build credible reputations as thought leaders, influencers and writers. It ramps up our teens to succeed as social media mavens by offering built-in editorial oversight and protection from its experienced editors and publishers.
It's all about positioning our teens for success in this new connected reality that we live in. With the help of the iKeepCurrent Generation SafeTM News Feed, HuffPost High School and other platforms that promote the safe, healthy usage of technology, our students will emerge as digital citizens who do nothing less than thrive in our global community.
To learn more about iKeepCurrent and to better understand the youth experience online, please visit us at www.iKeepCurrent.org.