Digital Citizenship Week has often served as a starting point for conversations about safety, ethics, and responsible online engagement with others and with content. But an equally vital component, often overlooked, is digital wellness. Digital wellness refers to how technology impacts our emotional, social, and mental well-being. If digital citizenship is focused on how we act and interact online, then digital wellness is how we feel, think, and show up online.
With so much technology in our classrooms today, educators are no longer just teaching academic content. Now, they are guiding students through a new terrain of constant connectivity, algorithm-driven attention, and shaping their digital identities. Digital wellness offers a framework that can help students build balance, boundaries, and agency as they develop technology skills. It leads them to understand how tech supports, rather than replaces, their growth.
What Is Digital Wellness?
Digital wellness refers to the intentional and healthy use of technology in ways that support:
- Emotional resilience
- Focus and attention
- Healthy relationships
- Digital boundaries and self-regulation
- Positive identity-building
- Offline/online balance
- Safe and restorative digital habits
Wellness is not about restricting technology; it’s about using it wisely and reflectively—something the ISTE Standards for Students emphasize under Digital Citizen (2a, 2b) and Empowered Learner (1c, 1d). Students need to understand how to leverage technology safely, ethically, and responsibly. Removing it completely is not the answer; they need guidance.
Why Students Need Digital Wellness Instruction
Students today are processing information faster than they can understand it emotionally. Many may experience:
- Notification fatigue
- Fear of missing out (FOMO)
- Stress from “performing” online
- Comparison culture
- Late-night “doom” scrolling and sleep disruption
- “Always on” communication pressure
When students learn mindful tech use, they gain emotional space for creativity, deep thinking, and well-being. Educators have a powerful role in helping students recognize how tech makes them feel, rather than just how to use it.
Classroom Activities for Teaching Digital Wellness (K–12)
These practices work during Digital Citizenship Week—or anytime you want to promote balance and meaningful tech habits.
ELEMENTARY (K–5)
1. “Feelings Before Screens” Routine (5 minutes)
Before using a device, students pause, breathe, and choose a feeling icon (happy, calm, tired, frustrated). After the activity, they reflect: “Do I feel better, the same, or worse?”
Purpose: Builds self-awareness + emotional literacy.
2. Tech vs. Together Time Sorting Game
Students sort cards showing daily activities—reading, gaming, playground time, FaceTime with a grandparent—into “screen” and “people” columns to discuss balance.
Purpose: Helps visualize healthy habits.
3. Brain Breaks for “Resetting”
Before transitions, practice 30–60 second mindfulness (breathing, quiet reflection, stretching).
Purpose: Digital stamina + self-regulation.
MIDDLE SCHOOL (6–8)
1. Attention Audit
Students list apps they check most often, rating how each one affects:
✅ mood
✅ focus
✅ relationships
✅ time
Discuss patterns: “Which apps energize you? Which drain you?”
ISTE Link: 1d Empowered Learner (setting personal learning goals).
2. The “Invisible Pressure” Conversation
Students anonymously answer: “What is something online that stresses you out?” Afterward, compare results to normalize healthy boundaries.
Well-being Lens: Emotional honesty builds agency.
3. Tech-Time Menu
Students design a personal plan using categories like “learning time,” “friends/social,” “rest time,” and “offline time.”
Purpose: Helps students self-regulate instead of default scrolling.
HIGH SCHOOL (9–12)
1. Digital Identity & Emotional Health Reflection
Students respond to prompts such as:
- Who am I online vs. offline—and how does it differ? Why?
- What parts of my persona do I curate, hide, or amplify digitally?
This can bridge into healthy identity development.
2. “Attention Economics” Mini-Lesson
Teach students how platforms are intentionally designed to capture attention—streaks, infinite scroll, push alerts. I love to consider this question:
“If the product is free, what is being sold?” And the answer is often…our information.
3. Building a “Wellness Contract With Myself”
Students set personal wellness boundaries:
- No doom-scrolling after midnight
- Screens stay off during meals
- Push notifications removed for nonessential apps
- Reflex check: “Why am I opening this?”
This shifts digital wellness from theory into habits.
Digital Wellness Through the ISTE Lens
The ISTE Standards help frame wellness as a skill rather than a rule:
| ISTE Standard | Digital Wellness Skill |
|---|---|
| 1d Empowered Learner | Self-monitoring tech use |
| 2b Digital Citizen | Managing digital identity & reputation |
| 3a Knowledge Constructor | Distinguishing distraction from meaningful use |
| 7a Global Collaborator | Respecting others’ digital well-being |
Digital wellness is not a side lesson—it fits into what ISTE calls “responsible, ethical, and healthy learner agency.”
Daily Mini-Practices Teachers Can Use Immediately
These require no prep and can be layered into any class.
| Strategy | What It Looks Like |
|---|---|
| Mindful Start | A 60-second pause before screens come out |
| Offline First | Think → speak → write → then tech |
| Tech + Talk | Every digital activity paired with peer discussion |
| App Impact Check | “How did this tech help your learning today?” |
| Micro-reflections | Quick exit tickets on wellness or focus level |
Sample Prompts for Student Reflection
- “Does this tool help you feel more connected or more overwhelmed?”
- “When do you feel most in control of your technology use?”
- “What’s one boundary you wish you could set but haven’t yet?”
- “Where in your life could less screen time give you more peace?”
Partnering With Families
Home behaviors shape wellness as much as school experiences. Consider:
✅ Family Tech Talk Night
✅ One-page wellness guide in multiple languages
✅ Conversation starters (“when does tech feel too loud?”)
✅ Shared “screen-free zones” (dinner, car rides, bedtime)
When adults model healthy balance, students internalize it.
Shifting from One Week to a Wellness Culture
Digital wellness is not a unit—it is a skill for life. Schools can deepen impact by:
- Including wellness language in advisory / SEL time
- Embedding digital balance into classroom norms
- Modeling tech off-ramps, not just on-ramps
- Celebrating offline creativity with as much enthusiasm as digital work
- Using AI thoughtfully—slowing down for reflective thinking
Digital wellness is really about helping students feel grounded, connected, and emotionally safe in digital spaces. When we teach students not just how to use technology but when to pause, reflect, and choose intentionally, we prepare them for a world where their humanity is not overshadowed by the pace of innovation.
About Rachelle
Dr. Rachelle Dené Poth is a Spanish and STEAM: What’s Next in Emerging Technology Teacher at Riverview High School in Oakmont, PA. Rachelle is also an attorney with a Juris Doctor degree from Duquesne University School of Law and a Master’s in Instructional Technology. Rachelle received her Doctorate in Instructional Technology, with a research focus on AI and Professional Development. In addition to teaching, she is a full-time consultant and works with companies and organizations to provide PD, speaking, and consulting services. Contact Rachelle for your event!
Rachelle is an ISTE-certified educator and community leader who served as president of the ISTE Teacher Education Network. By EdTech Digest, she was named the EdTech Trendsetter of 2024, one of 30 K-12 IT Influencers to follow in 2021, and one of 150 Women Global EdTech Thought Leaders in 2022.
She is the author of ten books, including ‘What The Tech? An Educator’s Guide to AI, AR/VR, the Metaverse and More” and ‘How To Teach AI’. In addition, other books include, “In Other Words: Quotes That Push Our Thinking,” “Unconventional Ways to Thrive in EDU,” “The Future is Now: Looking Back to Move Ahead,” “Chart A New Course: A Guide to Teaching Essential Skills for Tomorrow’s World, “True Story: Lessons That One Kid Taught Us,” “Things I Wish […] Knew” and her newest “How To Teach AI” is available from ISTE or on Amazon.
Contact Rachelle to schedule sessions about Artificial Intelligence, AI and the Law, Coding, AR/VR, and more for your school or event! Submit the Contact Form.
Follow Rachelle on Bluesky, Instagram, and X at @Rdene915
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