You wouldn’t stand in front of someone you don’t know in a grocery store and call them a bad name. Why would you call someone names on the Internet? The same social rules that exist at school, in your family, and in your community apply to the online community. You are just as responsible for what you say and do on the Internet as you are for what you say and do in the real world. And…remember, you can be identified, even when you think you are doing a great job of pretending to be someone else.

In this Module you will think about how rules in the real world transfer to the virtual world of the Internet. You will learn that being a good citizen in the real world and a mean person online diminishes you as a citizen in the real world. You will know how to use the same citizenship rules you have been taught since kindergarten in all virtual spaces you visit and spend time in.