These fears are valid, but they are not solved by abstinence.
Your liability is actually higher if you refuse to teach digital citizenship. When a student gets in trouble on Instagram at midnight, and you have never once discussed Instagram in class, you have failed your duty of care. Digital Playground - Teachers
Here is the secret: Students love watching you fail on the digital playground. When a teacher admits, "I have no idea how to build a table in Roblox, can someone show me?", the power dynamic shifts for the better. You become a co-learner. You model the vulnerability that true learning requires. These fears are valid, but they are not solved by abstinence
The question is no longer if the digital playground exists. It does. The only question is: Will you be the teacher on yard duty, blowing a whistle at the chaos? Or the architect who builds the swings, slides, and safety nets? Here is the secret: Students love watching you
When you lock a child in a sterile, sanitized digital jail from 8 AM to 3 PM, they do not learn self-control. They do not learn risk assessment. They simply wait for the bell. The moment they step off campus, they enter the real digital playground—a place with zero guardrails, where algorithms are designed to addict and predators know how to groom.
You will see things that make you uncomfortable. You will see brilliance, cruelty, creativity, and laziness all in the same five-minute window. In other words, you will see childhood.