The Influence of Digital Citizenship Education on the Legal and Moral Awareness of Generation Z
Abstract
Background. This study explores the influence of digital citizenship education on the legal and moral awareness of Generation Z. As digital technology becomes an integral part of daily life, it is essential to equip young people with the knowledge and skills necessary to navigate the online world responsibly. Digital citizenship education provides students with the tools to understand their rights, responsibilities, and ethical behavior in digital environments.
Purpose. The objective of this research is to assess how digital citizenship education impacts the legal and moral awareness of Generation Z, particularly in terms of their understanding of issues like privacy, cyberbullying, intellectual property, and online conduct.
Method. This study uses a mixed-method approach, combining a survey with 200 high school students and in-depth interviews with 20 educators.
Results. The results indicate that students who participated in digital citizenship education demonstrated a significantly higher level of legal and moral awareness compared to those who had not received such education.
Conclusion. The study concludes that incorporating digital citizenship education into the curriculum is effective in fostering a more responsible and ethical generation of digital citizens. These findings suggest that digital citizenship education should be a core component of educational programs to prepare students for the challenges and responsibilities of the digital age.
Full text article
References
Afrilyasanti, R., Basthomi, Y., & Zen, E. L. (2025). The rationales. Dalam Engag. Stud. In Crit. Media Lit.: A Guideb. For Educ. (hlm. 3–22). Springer Nature; Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-74130-2_1
Au-Yeung, T. C., Chan, C. K.-C., Ming, C. K. K., & Tsui, W. Y. A. (2025). The gig economy, platform work, and social policy: Food delivery workers’ occupational welfare dilemma in Hong Kong. Journal of Social Policy, 54(2), 673–691. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047279423000673
Cancelo-Sanmartín, M. (2025). The digital communication strategy in National Security Forces: Communication analysis of the Argentine Federal Police. European Public and Social Innovation Review, 10. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.31637/epsir-2025-1906
Carney, Z. H., & Kirk, R. (2025). THE CENTRALITY OF CITIZEN-AS-CONSUMER: A Study of the 2022 Texas Midterms and the Failing Concept of the Marketplace of Ideas in a Digital Era. Dalam Media Messages in the 2022 Midterm Election: Division, Deniers, Dobbs, and the Donald (hlm. 252–265). Taylor and Francis; Scopus. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003440833-16
Casadei, T. (2025). TikTok: A Legal Perspective on the Digital Environment, Highly Accessed by Minors. Revista de Derecho Privado, 48, 87–116. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.18601/01234366.48.05
Dhoppupa, K. C., Ngoenbat, W., Saisudjai, W., Srisongka, N., & Chuanchom, P. (2025). Thainess Curriculum for the Western Central Region in the Trend of Digital Transformation. Journal of Information Systems Engineering and Management, 10, 82–88. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.52783/jisem.v10i17s.2709
Efthymiou, I.-P. (2025). The role of e-government and e-governance in modern societies. Dalam Public gov. Pract. In the age of AI (hlm. 45–68). IGI Global; Scopus. https://doi.org/10.4018/979-8-3693-9286-7.ch003
Ertz, M., Latrous, I., Dakhlaoui, A., & Sun, S. (2025). The impact of Big Data Analytics on firm sustainable performance. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 32(1), 1261–1278. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.2990
Galán-Cubillo, E., Serrano-Cobos, J., & López-Navarrete, A. J. (2025). Understanding European Universities Initiative as the limestone to cement Europe together: A review of existing literature. Policy Futures in Education, 23(3), 621–641. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1177/14782103241287579
Hecht, A., Obradovi?, S., & Andreouli, E. (2025). Supportive but suspicious: Ideology, institutional trust, electoral participation and gender shape public opinion on citizenship education in the UK. British Educational Research Journal, 51(2), 848–868. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1002/berj.4101
Hmmouda, A., & Abdallah, O. (2025). The Role of Citizen Journalism in Developing Digital Citizenship Values among Palestinian Journalists in the Digital Era. An-Najah University Journal for Research - B (Humanities), 39(1), 1–12. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.35552/0247.39.1.2307
Hossain, Z. (2025). School librarians developing AI literacy for an AI-driven future: Leveraging the AI Citizenship Framework with scope and sequence. Library Hi Tech News, 42(2), 17–21. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1108/LHTN-10-2024-0186
Hunklinger, M., & Limacher, K. (2025). “Your identity is, what God puts into you”—Christian online activism on gender and sexuality politics on TikTok. Frontiers in Political Science, 7. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpos.2025.1501105
Jaiswal, R., Gupta, S., & Gupta, S. K. (2025a). The impending disruption of digital nomadism: Opportunities, challenges, and research agenda. World Leisure Journal, 67(1), 74–104. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1080/16078055.2024.2346091
Jaiswal, R., Gupta, S., & Gupta, S. K. (2025b). The impending disruption of digital nomadism: Opportunities, challenges, and research agenda. World Leisure Journal, 67(1), 74–104. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1080/16078055.2024.2346091
Jha, M. K., & Chakrabarty, A. (2025). The production of a ‘digital citizen’: Citizen-migrant conundrum through the National Register of Citizens in India. International Migration, 63(3). Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1111/imig.70023
Macharia, M., & Dunaway, M. (2025). Understanding the mediator and moderator role of digital citizenship on cyber harassment. Information Technology and People. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1108/ITP-05-2022-0376
Mekheimer, M., & Abdelhalim, W. M. (2025). The digital age students: Exploring leadership, freedom, and ethical online behavior: A quantitative study. Social Sciences and Humanities Open, 11. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssaho.2025.101325
Mills, S. (2025). The gamification of citizenship. Scottish Geographical Journal. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1080/14702541.2025.2454033
Morales-Álvarez, A., Valdés-Cuervo, A. A., & Parra-Pérez, L. G. (2025). Supportive Parenting and Adolescents Digital Citizenship Behaviors: The Mediating Role of Self-Regulation. Cyberpsychology, 19(1). Scopus. https://doi.org/10.5817/CP2025-1-2
Obaid, A. J., Cardoso, L. M., Elngar, A. A., Yakin, A. A., Rasyid, A. R. R., Al-Matari, A. S., & Muthmainnah, M. M. (2025). Transforming civic education with ChatGPT to boost student interaction and social learning in the GenAI era. Dalam Pract. Appl. Of Mach. Learn. And AI: Med., Environ. Sci., Transp., and Educ. (hlm. 305–332). IGI Global; Scopus. https://doi.org/10.4018/979-8-3373-1399-3.ch013
Popelo, O., Marhasova, V., Perepeliukova, O., Kakhovska, O., Oprysok, M., & Khomenko, S. (2025). THE ROLE OF THE DIGITAL BUSINESS ECOSYSTEM IN INNOVATIVE AND INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT OF REGIONS. Journal of Theoretical and Applied Information Technology, 103(1), 40–51. Scopus.
Prasetyoningsih, N., Rochimah, T. H. N., & Istiqomah, N. R. (2025). The State Authority to Limit Citizens’ Digital Rights by Restricting Internet Access. Dalam Auer M.E. & Rüütmann T. (Ed.), Lect. Notes Networks Syst.: Vol. 1281 LNNS (hlm. 157–168). Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH; Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-83520-9_15
Ravi, C., Pathak, P., & Gandhi, P. (2025). Smart Urbanization in India: Engagement, Participation, and Citizenship in Pune Smart City. Dalam Inclusive Cities and Global Urban Transformation: Infrastructures, Intersectionalities, and Sustainable Development (hlm. 31–39). Springer Nature; Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-7521-7_3
Rayon-Rumayor, L., Barroso-Moreno, C., Bañares-Marivela, E., & MoDe las Heras-Cuenca, A. (2025). Unlocking the potential of data: Datification in educational research using social listening methodology. Proc. Int. Conf. Educ. Tech. Comput., ICETC, 289–294. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1145/3702163.3702441
Ricoy-Casas, R. M., Fernández-González, R., & Santos-Garrido, M. (2025). Underrepresented students and artificial intelligence. European Public and Social Innovation Review, 10. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.31637/epsir-2025-843
Sel, B., & Demi?rci?, N. (2025). The global trends in digital citizenship research: A bibliometric analysis with R program and VosviewerA. Education and Information Technologies. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-025-13332-y
Selvakumar, P., Sudheer, P., & Kannan, N. (2025). The global impact of AI on digital citizenship. Dalam Digit. Citizsh. And the futur. Of AI engagem., ethics, and priv. (hlm. 225–252). IGI Global; Scopus. https://doi.org/10.4018/979-8-3693-9015-3.ch009
Tan, Q., & Tang, X. (2025). Unveiling AI literacy in K-12 education: A systematic literature review of empirical research. Interactive Learning Environments. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1080/10494820.2025.2482586
Tran, S. N. (2025). The Impact of Digital Communication on Customer Loyalty through the Relationship between Brand and Customer, and Customer Citizenship Behavior. International Review of Management and Marketing, 15(2), 77–84. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.32479/irmm.17858
Vasilica, C., Withnell, N., & Navis, J. P. (2025). THE EVOLVING ROLE OF NURSES IN THE DIGITAL AGE. Dalam Digital Nurs.: Shap. Practice and Identity in the Age of Informatics (hlm. 27–45). Taylor and Francis; Scopus. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781032714547-2
Vega-Muñoz, A., González-Gómez-del-Miño, P., & Contreras-Barraza, N. (2025). The Determinants of Brain Drain and the Role of Citizenship in Skilled Migration. Social Sciences, 14(3). Scopus. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci14030132
Wui, M. G. L., Claudio, J. S. R., Zhang, J., Reyes, C. R. R., Reyes, R. T. M., & Leviste, E. N. P. (2025). Role of Classroom Openness in Digital Literacy and Online Civic Engagement Among Filipino High School Students. Journal of Applied Youth Studies. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43151-025-00169-y
Zheng, J., & Kim, K. T. (2025). The Driving Force for Sustaining Future Competencies for University Students in the Digital Era: Learning Strategies. Journal of Curriculum and Teaching, 14(1), 19–29. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.5430/jct.v14n1p19
Authors
Copyright (c) 2025 Layla Al-Hariri, Youssef Al-Mansour, Ahmed Hassam

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.