Digital Dilemmas

Dilemmas abound in our networked lives. When expressing yourself online, where is the boundary between authenticity and oversharing? Is what people do or say in public fair game to record and post on social media--or would that be a violation of privacy? Should schools and/or parents monitor teens’ social media posts? Is it fair for college admissions to consider applicants’ social media posts?  

Preparing young people to anticipate and grapple with the personal, ethical, and civic dilemmas that arise in networked life is vital. While internet safety and digital citizenship curricula have been on offer for over a decade, the current context suggests a need to reexamine and rethink digital citizenship education and digital parenting approaches.

Led by Carrie James and Emily Weinstein, the Digital Dilemmas project works at the nexus of research and practice. Our research applies a mixed methods approach to a) systematically document digital opportunities and challenges related to young people’s digital lives, b) examine how tweens, teens, parents, and educators perceive and respond to thorny digital dilemmas, and c) design powerful supports for digital well-being and citizenship.

In collaboration with Common Sense Education, we developed educational approaches and tools keyed to the complex dilemmas youth face today. Our Dilemmas and Thinking Routines for Digital Life are integrated into Common Sense’s Digital Citizenship Curriculum. These tools are designed to be used in classrooms, peer mentoring contexts, and to guide ‘at home’ conversations about digital life. Collaborators: Common Sense Media, EL Education. Funders: SCE (Susan Crown Exchange), Bezos Family Foundation, The Germanacos Foundation, Hewlett Foundation, Sherwood Foundation,