September 17th, 2020

The Waterloo Region District School Board has provided Learning at the WRDSB outlining the strategies, goals and priorities that have been identified to assist WRDSB students.  There are a number of topics of interest for families with students enrolled in our schools.  One topic found within this resource that we would like parents, guardians and students to review is Digital Citizenship.  The guidelines and expectations associated with the appropriate use of digital resources can be found within the Digital Citizenship link. In addition, all students and their parents/guardians must have read and agreed to the Responsible Use Policy,  RUP, as a requirement for the WRDSB 1:1 Chromebook Project.

As the 2020-21 school year begins, digital learning will be a major component of the student’s learning programs at EDSS.  As a result, Digital Citizenship will continue to be important as EDSS student programming has and will include more screen time as the Hybrid Quadmester Schedule provided by the Ministry of Education has been put into place for the fall of 2020-21 school.

As our youth spend more time in front of screens for communication, entertainment and educational reasons Digital Citizenship is an ongoing conversation with students.  A quick Parent Tip Guide created by Catholic Principals’ Leadership Development, Leadership En Action, Principal Association Projects and Victim Services Toronto offers some talking points to use with your children.  

We ask that you please remind the young adults that live with you to “THINK” before they consider posting on a Social Media app:

“Is it True? Is it Helpful? Is it Inspiring? Is it Necessary? Is it Kind?”

It is our hope that students remember that everything communicated online becomes part of their digital footprint.  Our goal, with community assistance, is to help all EDSS students create a positive media presence that reflects favourably on them, EDSS and the community in which they live.