Paul Taylor

September's digital citizenship champion is Paul Taylor, a 13 year old 8th grader at Village Tech Schools in Cedar Hill, Texas who plays flag football and is a basketball shooting star and MVP. He was voted "Most Likely to Succeed" in the 6th grade.

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When asked about his interest in digital citizenship, he said, "My mom works in tech, so it's always talked about at our house.  When I turned 13, she started allowing me to use social media, and I was able to see some of the crazy stuff teenagers post online.  We also talk about different stories in the news when people kill good opportunities because of their social media posts.  We've discussed people losing their jobs and even athletes losing full scholarships because of their lack of digital citizenship." He believes that cyberbullying is best handled by trying to ignore it and use it to motivate you to be better and set a good example.  But, he says, if it becomes too much, talk to an adult or mentor. He went on to recommend "Don't do anything stupid to ruin your reputation. Once you post it, it's there forever, even if you think you have deleted it.  If you can't say it in front of your momma, don't post it."

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Paul wishes his teachers would use social media more in the classroom.  "Social media would be so much fun used in our classroom activities, and I would love those assignments."

Paul was a student Ignite speaker at ISTE 2017 in San Antonio. He is also presenting and sharing his love for social media with teachers in Aldine ISD for TCCA 2017.