After reading the article Protect Your Digital Footprint I found myself agreeing with Istenya Boyle who was interviewed in the article. I am so glad that when I was in college, sites like facebook weren't around or didn't have the popularity that have today. I wouldn't have understood the importance of protecting your digital footprint like many students today.
Having a sister in college makes me realize just how difficult it is for teenagers to understand the online trail they are leaving behind. My sister posts anything and everything online from random notes to pictures from the most recent house party. Even after numerous conversations with her, her online behavior does not change. She is living in the moment. She is not capable of seeing the impact on her future. It's the same reason my friends and I would go to the beach without an ounce of sunblock. We were told about the negative effects of the sun, but somehow we thought we could escape them. The reality is that in the future there are consequences to those behaviors, but it's often hard to see them today.
How do we get students to understand that what they do today will impact tomorrow?
I don't have an answer, but I do know that education needs to start early both at home and at school. It will be interesting to see how education changes as more and more people are feeling the negative and positive effects of their digital footprint.
picture: http://www.treehugger.com
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