Chesterton Middle School (CMS) has been recognized as a Common Sense School, an honor that recognizes efforts in teaching digital citizenship to young people and engaging the entire school community in this important discussion.

The recognition, announced by Common Sense, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to helping kids and families thrive in a world of media and technology, acknowledges the school’s commitment to helping students build skills that are essential for their well-being todayÑand for the opportunities they'll have tomorrow.

CMS has demonstrated its commitment to taking a whole-community approach to preparing its students to think critically and use technology responsibly to learn, create, and participate, while preparing them for the perils that exist in the online realm, such as plagiarism, loss of privacy, and cyberbullying. With the right support, kids can take ownership of their digital lives, engage with real issues, and change their communities for the better. The recognition acknowledges the school's commitment to creating a culture of digital citizenship.

"We applaud the faculty and staff of Chesterton Middle School for embracing digital citizenship as an important part of their students' education," said Liz Kline, vice president of education programs at Common Sense Education. "Chesterton Middle School deserves high praise for giving its students the foundational skills they need to compete and succeed in the 21st-century workplace and participate ethically in society at large."

CMS has been using Common Sense Education's innovative and research-based digital citizenship resources, which were created in collaboration with researchers from Project Zero, led by Howard Gardner at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and are grounded in the real issues students and teachers face. The resources teach students, educators, and parents tangible skills related to Internet safety, protecting online reputations and personal privacy, media balance, managing online relationships, and media literacy. The free K--12 curriculum is used in classrooms across all 50 states, in more than 65,000 schools by more than 750,000 educators.

"We're honored to be recognized as a Common Sense School," said Michael Hamacher. "By preparing our students to use technology safely and responsibly, we are providing them an opportunity to build lifelong habits to help them succeed in a tech-driven world."