Different media education approaches predict distinct aspects of digital citizenship

Based on a national survey of 8,915 students, this study examines the prevalence of different types of media education practices in Swiss upper secondary schools and their relationship with students’ online civic engagement and respectful online behavior. Descriptive statistics reveal that schools place little emphasis on media education and that current practices focus primarily on protective media education approaches. Results from multi-level hierarchical multiple regression analysis show that expressive media activities positively predict students’ online civic engagement but not respectful online behavior, whereas addressing topics such as the ‘dangers of the internet’ predicts respectful online behavior but not online civic engagement. These findings underscore the challenge of promoting digital citizenship education, which simultaneously encourages civic engagement and respectful behavior. Additionally, there is a significant negative correlation between online civic engagement and respectful behavior, suggesting that digital citizenship frameworks encompassing both dimensions are more prescriptive than empirical in nature and that diverse digital citizenship profiles may exist, with some being more respectful butt less civically engaged, and others being more civically engaged but less respectful.