DC - Digital Wellness Society {LESSON}

Digital Wellness Society

Did You Know?

95 percent of young adults ages 3-18 years old have internet access at home; 88 percent have internet access through a computer.

[SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2021). The Condition of Education 2021 (NCES 2021-144), Children’s Internet Access at Home.]

Think about what that means.

Computers are a necessity in your everyday life. Using computers for internet access has become one of the most important sources of knowledge. Making income online, listening to music, banking, education, and using social networking sites are just a few ways in which computers are used in our daily lives. With these many avenues to interact digitally let's think about the tradeoffs of computers and computing in daily life.

Safety

As you are interacting online, remember to continue to protect yourself from online deception. When you are online, you might come across scams that try to steal your private information.

Let's take a quick look at the Understanding Spam and Phishing video below to develop an understanding of spam and phishing.

As with spam and phishing scams, remember to trust your best judgment. Money should never be sent because you receive an email request.

Spam, scams, and phishing schemes will continue to evolve and change. But now that you know what to look for to avoid personal information being compromised, you can keep your computer safer.

Digital Wellness Scenarios

Take a look at these Digital Wellness scenarios and see how you would do in the situation.

Digital Wellness

Technology is a necessary part of our daily lives, with many of us working, learning, and socializing in the digital space. As we always like to only think of the positive, we must consider the negative effects of computers. Computers  may have made positive impacts but there is evidence for the negative effects of technology and its overuse, as well.

Think about when you are communicating on social media with your friends or in a gaming community. What could be some negative effects of the overuse of digital devices used to communicate?

Lack of attention, addiction to gaming, physical inactivity, poor sleep habits, or social anxiety can be an outcome.

The digital world, with its never-ending addition of new apps and updates, constantly challenges our capacity to look after our personal online safety and maintain a healthy balanced relationship with technology. Digital wellness is a measure of how well we are able to do this. Essentially, it is the impact of digital devices and technology on a person’s mental, physical, emotional, and social health.

As you continue to access computers, be considerate to yourself on usage so that you can live a healthy digital life.

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