What Young People Get Out of Digital Civic Education

Written By Daniel Krutka

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by Celeste Barber, Hazel Buxton, Harper Javery, Alyssa Nieto, Arista Obioma, Athena Obioma, Rocelyn Rocha, Amelia Shattuck, and Perry Tompkins with Allie Thrall

We are the Digital Civics Club, a student-led afterschool club at a public charter school in Central Texas made up of high school sophomores, juniors and seniors. For the past three years, we have met after school every Friday to have conversations and share readings about current day America and the digital influences we face. We have discussed topics ranging from Flock cameras to the influence of AI in fields like law and art. We closely follow the Civics of Tech blog for ideas and inspiration.

In addition to our weekly meetings and readings, we engage in youth participatory research projects; visit other schools to teach younger students about digital civics; and some of us have even gotten to experience the joy of writing our very first publications for Civics of Tech: Athena about a dystopian AI future, and Celeste sharing an interview about “Holding Edtech Accountable” with Andy Liddell. 

Though some of us have already published here, we wanted to take the opportunity to share some of our collective reflections on Digital Civics Club, why we have been so committed to running this club, and how our thoughts have developed regarding the relationship between technology and society. We hope sharing these reflections will provide inspiration for other youth-led groups to hold space for these kinds of learning experiences and conversations because they are incredibly important to us.

In what follows, we share our collective responses to four questions: (1) Why am I in Digital Civics Club? (2) How do I see these topics come up in my everyday life? (3) What are my fears for technology and society? (4) What are my hopes for technology and society? We answered these questions individually, then discussed and elaborated on our answers as a group. Each section, therefore, describes a summary of our responses and discussions, including quotes from our group members that we found particularly salient. At the end, we synthesize what Digital Civics Club means to us, and what we think groups like this could mean for other young people.

Question 1: Why am I in Digital Civics Club?

For us, Digital Civics Club is a space to learn about our world together. We know from our lives and from our shared learning that digital technologies are tied into everything: from politics and psychology to pop culture. Reading about these topics together has helped to expand our perspectives, uncover the deeper meanings behind the media surrounding us, build an understanding of the interrelationships between people with different experiences and perspectives, and try to make sense of our how technologies are rapidly changing our society, and our visions of the future that we will live in.

“Digital Civics has provided a space for me and other students to be able to come together after school to sit and reflect on the world as we know it, and what the world is becoming. It is so astounding knowing how many ties digital citizenship has to everything and how it can pull on those ties to warp realities or reach the masses.” 

– Athena

“Having a space that allows me to express opinions free of judgement helps me to understand why I feel so strongly about the topics we discuss. It helps me articulate my thoughts when we learn more about a topic I’ve only briefed beforehand.” 

– Alyssa

“A lot of the time, digital spaces can be an echo chamber of similar ideas, and having a physical space with differing ideas (where you know it's not meant for personal attack) is very helpful to gain new knowledge.”

– Celeste

 “I practically grew up with the internet. It's a huge part of my life, but it's only been recently that I've considered it in a political/ethical frame. Digital civics is a safe, open space where I can share my thoughts and opinions while getting to hear what my peers have to say as well. It helps me learn more about the online world in which I integrate myself so deeply. Digital civics is a very effective club for getting people to share with others about topics prevalent within our society.” 

– Perry

“I have been familiar with technology since a young age and have long since contested its incorporation into every aspect of our lives. I have always been skeptical of its rapid advancement and have since found a safe place where I can bring my skills, thoughts, and anxieties regarding technology into group discussion and hands-on practice. Despite my contradicting belief that technology exists for the genuine benefit of the people, I am still quite concerned about its current standpoint in this day and age—more specifically, what it is capable of when it falls into the hands of those who value profit over human lives.”

– Arista

Question 2: Where do I see these topics in my life?

We see the topics we discuss in Digital Civics everywhere in our everyday lives, “On TikTok, when I search for something online, when I peruse the news, even when my dad pontificates in the car.” (Amelia) Contemporary politics, ever present in daily life, would be impossible to understand without considering how they are shaped by digital influences. Opinions can be shared digitally to millions of people, whether it’s “harmless promotional videos” or “hurtful ideologies festering in people’s keyboards or mouths.” (Athena) At the center of it all is social media, which most of us in the club use regularly. Rocelyn shares that while on TikTok she gets “bombarded by the horrors of our country and world, mixed in with animations, edits, and cosplays,” which brings up a question we always ask ourselves: what is our role in digital spaces? What happens online affects our real world lives, Celeste brings up the manosphere, once a fringe group online, which now gets brought up by guys at our school. “It's interesting how such a decentralized space can breed such narrow-minded ideas,” she says. 

AI specifically comes up in our lives constantly, not only when other students use it, as adults often assume, but also, to our dismay, when our school uses it. “Our school uses AI for advertising and informational posters,” Hazel explains, “It’s really sad to see a school use AI art because there are so many students at schools who are aspiring artists or designers and would happily design these posters if they were just asked.”

Question 3: What are my fears about technology and society?

A recurring part of club meetings is reflecting on the implications of AI when it comes to both society and education. Recently, these implications have become more negative and have begun to embody the fear of what the future may look like soon. If the present can already be so affected, what will become of the future? Athena captures the complexity of this question, saying that she “fears so much for the progress of AI because it takes so disproportionately and gives so sparingly,” and expresses her fears of its sustainability, claiming “our environment can’t keep up. Our citizens can’t keep up.” 

She’s not wrong: the use of AI and the focus on the progress of such technologies has consumed the current day. The people who are affected most negatively by AI are those who must live next to data centers with unclean water, those who must mine for the precious metals we use, and those who have their critical thinking smashed to bits because they use AI as a mode of critical thought. The cry for sustainability is valid because these technologies and their production feed into the pollution of not only our minds, but our environment. Climate change isn’t slowing down, and by fixing our eyes on convenience, we are losing the plot between what we are doing as a society and what we are teaching the next generation to do. 

A shared idea between the members of Digital Civics Club is that technologies like AI have been seen as a crutch to learning as a whole. It has “invaded every aspect of the classroom,” inhibiting learning to the point where “critical thinking isn’t expected” (Alyssa) and “humans will lose all creative function” (Amelia). Students are actively forgetting/never learning how to write papers, form arguments, and even complete daily grades without the use of AI. Due to its accessibility and seemingly unmatched intelligence, students are beginning to sideline the challenge that comes with school, instead, leaning fully into the convenience of AI. If we continue to depend on AI the way teachers and research is meant to be relied upon, “we’ll end up in a society of uneducated people,” as Hazel puts it bluntly. 

The only thing that stands in the way of us moving backwards as a society is using what we are equipped with to take back our knowledge. If we continue using our knowledge to pour into the convenient misinformation hub that is AI, there's no telling how low we could go; even more violently, as Celeste puts it, “we will ultimately create the tools that tear us apart.”

Question 4: What are my hopes for technology and society?

Although at times our club meetings may seem pessimistic, we have visions for the future of technology and society. Some of these visions are mere hopes, while some are guesses for where our future may very well be headed.

To begin, we often discuss technology in education. Many of us see a future where this technology is better regulated. Amelia adds her thoughts, “[I hope] AI will, at the very least, be restricted in some way from kids whose brains are still developing.” Many of the club members have commented on how we constantly see students using AI, so we can, like Amelia has stated, improve AI restriction while kids are still growing. Hazel adds on, “If younger generations can fully understand the harm AI does to society, then our society will continue to grow in both awareness and intelligence.” So, along with restricting AI from a young age in education, there is a hope that a plan for teaching AI usage is implemented.

Additionally, many of us have hope for our environment’s future. Athena proposes, “We can incorporate our resources into programs that help sustain our Earth.” Meanwhile, Hazel believes, “Since I know there’s no guarantee that generative AI will be fully restricted, I can only hope that data centers become less environmentally damaging.” Both are hopes for how our society and government can cut back on harming nature.

We have further thoughts on de-digitalization, social media, and government funding in relation to technology. Athena explains, “We can stop investing so much money and resources into AI’s rapid advancement-and digital capitalist improvements—and instead start putting the money where it matters most. We can reallocate funds towards people experiencing poverty.” Amelia muses, “With the rise of digital assistants/other helpful technologies, we will take a radical turn into a de-digitalized world where hand-made things are held in the highest regard.” Alyssa adds her thoughts on social media technology, “My hopes for technology and society are the outreach that can positively impact worlds we don't see face to face.”

Many of us posit ideas for a relatively positive future, most of which are very realistic guesses for how our future may look. We hope and believe that actions will be taken to improve technology in our society’s education, government, environment, and beyond. As Celeste puts it, “I think that every generation has been uncertain, but we mustn't let it consume us. We must prevail.”

Conclusion

Thus, through Digital Civics Club, and even through the collaboration of this blog, we have come to see the value of the time we have spent together over the past years. As a club, we value expanding our awareness on how digital technologies are shaping the world around us and how people can be complicit in, or resist, technological power. As digital technologies have evolved alongside our club, we have built collective identities: as resistors to AI and protestors of the perpetuation of hateful ideologies online. We see ourselves as working together to fight the willful ignorance or desensitization to online culture and digital power that we see – where people continually cede power where it should not be ceded. Our wish is that more young people will find the time and space to read, learn, discuss, and engage in digital civics together. This, perhaps, is our greatest hope for technology and society. 

Daniel Krutka
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