Today's Law As Amended


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SB-203 Pupil instruction: digital citizenship and media literacy.(2017-2018)



As Amends the Law Today


SECTION 1.
 (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(1) Media and technology have become pervasive in all areas of our lives.
(2) In our classrooms, pupils must learn how to safely, ethically, responsibly, and effectively use media and technology resources.
(3) Kids have never had as much access to the Internet, media, and mobile technologies at home and school as they do today.
(4) Schools can play a critical role by educating, empowering, and engaging children with the best practices around technology use.
(5) While media and technology have great promise for learning, young people need support and education to learn how to make sound judgments when navigating the digital world.
(6) School administrators and educators are now faced with new and, at times, overwhelming challenges, such as those related to privacy, digital footprints, cyberbullying, and sexting.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature to provide a process by which pupils, parents, guardians, teachers, teacher librarians, other school employees, school administrators, and community representatives will engage in an ongoing discussion on safe media and technology use, with the goal of establishing digital citizenship and media literacy as part of the state’s basic educational goals and essential academic learning requirements.

SEC. 2.

 Section 51206.5 is added to the Education Code, to read:

51206.5.
 (a) (1) For purposes of this section, “digital citizenship” and “media literacy” are broad terms that encompass consumption and production of media and digital products and are defined as follows:
(A) “Digital citizenship” means a diverse set of skills related to current technology and social media, including the norms of appropriate, responsible, and healthy behavior. Major areas include safety concerns such as cyberbullying prevention.
(B) “Media literacy” means the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, develop, produce, and interpret media and encompasses the foundational skills that lead to digital citizenship.
(2) The Legislature finds and declares that digital citizenship and media literacy education provide digital technology skills essential for success in the 21st century.
(b) (1) On or before December 1, 2018, the Superintendent, in consultation with the executive director of the state board, shall identify best practices and recommendations for instruction in digital citizenship, Internet safety, and media literacy and shall report to the appropriate fiscal and policy committees of the Legislature on strategies to implement the best practices and recommendations statewide.
(2) The best practices and recommendations shall be developed in consultation with the advisory committee specified in subdivision (c).
(3) The best practices and recommendations shall include instruction that provides guidance about thoughtful, safe, and strategic uses of online and other media resources and education on how to apply critical thinking skills when consuming and producing media in any form.
(4) The requirement for submitting a report imposed pursuant to this subdivision is inoperative on December 1, 2022, pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code.
(c) The Superintendent shall convene and consult with an advisory committee when developing best practices and recommendations for instruction in digital citizenship, Internet safety, and media literacy. The advisory committee shall be comprised of a majority of certificated teacher librarians and current certificated classroom teachers with experience teaching media literacy and shall include representatives from all of the following:
(1) California County Superintendents Educational Services Association.
(2) California School Boards Association.
(3) Experts in digital citizenship, Internet safety, and media literacy.
(4) Other stakeholders, including pupils, certificated teacher librarians, parent organizations, diverse current classroom teachers, and administrators.
(d) The recommendations of the advisory committee may include, but are not limited to, the following:
(1) Revisions to the state learning standards and the state educational technology plan.
(2) Model policies and procedures on digital citizenship, Internet safety, and media literacy developed by the School Superintendents Association.
(3) School district processes necessary to develop customized school district policies and procedures on electronic resources and Internet safety that can be used within a school district technology plan.
(4) Best practices, resources, and models for instruction in digital citizenship, Internet safety, and media literacy.
(5) Best practices, resources, and models for instruction that are compliant with the federal Universal Service E-rate program administered by the Schools and Libraries Division of the Universal Service Administrative Company and federal mandates established in the federal Children’s Internet Protection Act (Public Law 106-554).
(6) Strategies that will support school districts in local implementation of the best practices and recommendations developed by the department, including strategies for delivering professional development to educators and administrators.