Digital Ethics: The Choice is Yours

Life is about choices. We are defined by the choices we make, be it the right or the wrong one. Think about each of the following scenarios and ask yourself if you would have made the same choice that Mel did.

• Every time Mel posts a new entry on her blog, a few rude visitors leave flaming comments that are completely uncalled for. Mel chooses to respond to each flame in turn, and now a full-scale war has broken out.
• Mel's friend David leaves for the restroom during computer lab without logging off. Mel sees that he's in the middle of editing his profile page and thinks it would be funny to add some creative edits of her own.
• The first thing Mel does when she wakes up in the morning is check her computer to see if there were any problems with all the movie and music files she started downloading using an illegal P2P program the night before. Happy with her new loot, she burns several copies of a mix of her favorite songs for her and her friends.
• Mel has a paper due second period but doesn't do any work until the night before. She heads to the public library where she asks the librarians for help. After they've shown her how to E-mail documents from online databases home, Mel realizes that she can easily cut and paste paragraphs from the articles she retrieved into her paper without citing them. Her teachers would never know.¹

Why be ethical in a virtual world?

Well, the Internet is not a virtual world. A distant land infested with creatures inside a multi-player video game is virtual but the Internet is a place where communities of real people are formed, transactions are made using real identities to purchase real products, and crimes are committed with real consequences just like the real world.

Having digital ethics is to know what's right and wrong and act accordingly online so you don't harm yourself and others. Your actions online can be just as serious as offline. None of us would even dream of walking into a music store and lifting hundreds of CDs and DVDs. So why do we feel like it's our right to download free pirated music off the Internet?

Which issues should I be concerned with?

PLAGIARISM

This is taking someone else's work, not giving the original author credit, and passing it off as your own - also known as cheating. The only person you're cheating though is yourself. Plagiarists deprive themselves of practicing valuable skills needed throughout their lives.

PIRACY

Millions of teens copy CDs for friends and download "free" music from illegal p2p downloading programs. This sort of rebellion may even carry a cool reputation - like it's a stand against the evil record companies. In actuality, it only robs the artists of the ability to further create and share great music for years to come. Piracy of licensed music, movies, software, and other copyrighted works can also be likened to theft.

CYBERBULLYING

Cyberbullying is online harassment and/or threats. Many teens say and do terrible things to each other online because they don't always get an immediate response from the person being bullied. You should know that many schools have harassment policies. This sort of unethical behavior may have serious consequences.

VANDALISM

Defacing someone else's web site is no different from spraying graffiti on a building. Ask yourself - Do my choices and actions respect the property of other people?

PRIVACY

Just because information appears on a computer monitor doesn't mean it's for public viewing. Just as it's rude to read over someone's shoulder, the same holds true for information displayed on someone else's computer screen. Teens should also realize that people you don't know online are no different from people you don't know in the real world - both need to be approached with caution. Ask yourself - Am I violating the privacy of other people or am I revealing personal information that could put me at risk?

Every teen should know ...

Through Hollywood movies and TV, we've been subjected to glorified images of computer geniuses hacking into high security networks. These unethical actions rarely carry any consequences and the hackers are often hailed as heroes and draw sympathy from the audience.² We don't live in the movies though. Whether you're walking on a street or surfing the Internet, our society's laws and rules don't exclude you.

Nowadays, the ability of officials to catch people online breaking laws and acting in an unethical manner is growing. It's gotten easier to track individuals and their actions while they're logged onto the Internet. We all leave a trail called digital footprints or fingerprints and most web browsers keep record of all sites recently visited. Some schools even keep record of all the keystrokes made during a student's session! Most importantly, it's good to know that organizations and schools have the right to read the E-mails of students and visit personal web pages, especially if there's a suspicion or reason to do so.³

For most of us, the Internet is imbedded in our daily routine, making it hard for us to do without the conveniences and opportunities to learn and discover new things. It's important to always remember this truth and not abuse this privilege. The choices you make online have a ripple effect so it might as well be positive and benefit you in the end, right?