Igniting action #ICANHELP – Digital Citizenship Education Program presentations planned at area schools

By Roz Weis,

Decorah native Kim Karr will return to the area to give talks on empowering students and teachers in combating cyberbullying in Decorah and the surrounding area in the coming weeks.

Decorah native Kim Karr is returning to her roots to deliver a powerful talk on the importance of digital safety to hundreds of students in the area this fall.

Karr, the daughter of Dwayne and Debbie Karr and a 1997 graduate of Decorah High School, lives in California and is the co-founder of Digital4Good x #ICANHELP. The local alum is planning several upcoming stops in the region, highlighting how students and adults can maintain a positive digital footprint. Karr is scheduled to speak Oct. 30 at Cresco Schools, Oct. 31 at South Winneshiek Schools and Nov. 1 at Decorah Middle School. 

Digital4Good was founded in 2013 as a way to fight back against digital negativity. The nonprofit was first established in response to an online attack on a teacher in the form of a false Facebook page. 

“It had over 1,000 followers at a school of only 500 students, and it was going on for over two weeks,” Karr said. “One student finally reported it to me and was scared that their peers would make fun of them. When I asked why other students didn’t report it, most of them said they didn’t know what to do.”

Karr’s organization now seeks to train students in addressing social media challenges — dubbing them Digital First Responders. She said the nonprofit’s approach to solving complicated social issues presents students as part of the solution, not the problem. 

Full article available in the October 24 Decorah Leader.

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