General Assembly Proposed Bill No. 6359
January Session, 2021 LCO No. 1353
Referred to Committee on EDUCATION
Introduced by:
REP. PALM, 36th Dist.
AN ACT CONCERNING THE TEACHING OF CIVICS, DIGITAL
CITIZENSHIP AND MEDIA LITERACY IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
1 That title 10 of the general statutes be amended to implement the
2 recommendations of the Digital Citizenship, Internet Safety and Media
3 Literacy Advisory Council, established pursuant to section 10-7v of the
4 general statutes, including that local and regional boards of education
5 create curricula that identify the essential skills and knowledge students
6 must acquire and demonstrate regarding digital citizenship, Internet
7 safety and media literacy; and further that section 10-16b of the general
8 statutes be amended to require that the social studies curriculum of the
9 prescribed courses of study for public schools include the teaching of
10 civics, digital citizenship and media literacy beginning in grade three.
Statement of Purpose:
To (1) increase young citizens' understanding of how government
operates by requiring the teaching of civics, digital citizenship and
media literacy beginning in grade three, (2) help create more astute
consumers of the news by educating students on how to discern
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legitimate news sources from inauthentic sources, and (3) educate
students in the uses and misuses of social media platforms.
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