In a pioneering step, the Ministry of Education recently launched several new educational curricula, including a critical thinking curriculum and a law curriculum. This step aims to prepare students to adapt to the demands of the current era and enhance their thinking skills and awareness of rights in various life situations. The focus on developing general education curricula reflects the officials' commitment to implementing national transformation methodologies by equipping students with work and future skills and building an integrated student personality to achieve Vision 2030.

Given the nature of our era, which relies on modern technologies to meet various life requirements such as communication, education, and work, it has become noticeable that digital technology tools are constantly in the hands of children, interacting with technology, its content, and social networks that have broken down the barriers of time and space, facilitating communication with various people and opening up to the world at an early age—an aspect that includes both gains and challenges.

On the other hand, the Kingdom's directions towards digital transformation require digitizing the work of government entities and sectors to provide services to citizens and residents electronically. Therefore, according to the current changes of the era, it is necessary to pay attention to integrating the skills and culture of digital citizenship into general education curricula, educating students about responsibilities and rights in the digital world, and protecting them from intellectual challenges and risks in digital environments. This has become an urgent necessity in the age of the information revolution and the digital communication technology revolution.

Just as students must learn how to become good citizens within their local communities, they urgently need to know the ethics of dealing with digital environments and their technical tools to protect themselves and know their rights, so that they become individuals capable of acting intelligently and consciously within the digital society.

Therefore, the concept of digital citizenship has emerged in recent years, and a number of education experts have called for the importance of raising students' awareness and educating them about the behaviors of a digital citizen. Developed countries have taken the lead in integrating it into their digital educational curricula and educating students through content that suits the age and ability of learners to understand and apply. For example, Australia launched a comprehensive national project under the slogan 'Connect with Confidence: Developing Australia's Digital Future', which aims to teach digital citizenship to students and train teachers and parents.

The concept of digital citizenship refers to the responsible, ethical, and safe use of information and communication technology by individuals, as members of the local community and as citizens of the global society (Jones & Shao, 2011). Digital citizenship is the appropriate and responsible standards and behaviors when using information technology. Its importance is evident considering that the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) has adopted digital citizenship within its technology education standards for students. Additionally, the European Council launched the Digital Citizenship Education (DCE) project aimed at empowering children through education and active participation in the digital society.

Digital citizenship includes nine elements: digital rights and responsibilities, digital health, digital access, digital law, digital literacy, digital security, digital commerce, digital communication, and digital etiquette (Ribble & Bailey, 2007). The non-profit organization Common Sense Education has designed a comprehensive digital citizenship curriculum aimed at equipping students with critical thinking, acting safely, and participating responsibly in the digital world.

These nine elements help students protect themselves against intellectual and digital challenges, respect others and be aware of their rights and duties, and adhere to ethical behavior standards when dealing with others or with knowledge content and intellectual property rights. This requires integrating digital citizenship into Saudi education curricula from kindergarten through university levels, so that students grow up understanding the correct and proper ways to deal with information technology tools, acquiring knowledge and responsible practices that protect the individual and society and achieve one of the vision's pillars: a 'vibrant society'.

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