Media Specialist Sharon Deam makes the most of ‘real life’ teaching opportunities. During her digital citizenship unit this week at Fishers Junior High, Deam reminded her seventh graders that anything and everything they text or post online can affect their futures–and an NBC news report helped to prove her point!

In each HSE school building, the librarian/media specialist instructs all students on digital citizenship topics such as internet safety and security, digital footprints, and more. Mrs. Deam began her recent lesson by recounting the (true) cautionary tale of a congressional aide who was forced to resign last month after she ridiculed President Obama’s daughters on social media. The aide’s demeaning Facebook comments quickly grabbed the attention of media and spread. Mrs. Deam used this sad story as a real-life picture of the importance to ‘think before you post’. In the same way that we emphasize politeness and wisdom in our physical actions, so we must live in the digital world, using the amazing access provided by social media with discretion. Sharon and the other HSE media specialists are committed to helping our students learn these vital information literacy and digital citizenship precepts.