Miss Missouri Katelyn Lewis spoke to students Friday at North Elementary School in Holts Summit about practicing good digital citizenship - a cause for which she is particularly passionate.
"A lot of schools don't teach anything about it," Lewis said, even though students need to think about the things they do online because of the digital footprint they leave.
Those digital footprints can leave tracks people with bad intentions can follow to physical locations, or the prints themselves might be spiteful steps upon other people that can come back and hurt the reputations of those who make them.
Lewis, 23, of the St. Louis area, talked about how she once met a person named Andrew who had successfully applied to Princeton University for college. Lewis told the class of North fifth-graders Andrew and his girlfriend broke up because of his plan to go to the East Coast for an Ivy League education.
What ultimately led to Princeton's decision a few weeks later to revoke Andrew's acceptance was Andrew's choice to vent about his ex-girlfriend on Twitter, including posting embarrassing pictures of her.
"'Your Twitter isn't Princeton-worthy,'" Lewis said of the school's decision. Andrew deleted the tweets the day after he posted them, but that didn't matter.
Lewis talked about the acronym THINK from her website, yourdigitalcompass.net:
"Take time to consider how others could interpret what you post online.
"Have safeguards in place such as anti-malware programs.
"Identify the specific goals you have for each internet session and stay on track.
"Never provide personal identification or financial information without a secure connection and vetting of the site.
"Know the risks of what you share online and use your best judgment."
Lewis said she's spent the past year promoting good digital citizenship, among her other responsibilities as Miss Missouri. She was crowned in June, and all Miss Missouri recipients hold the title for a year.
Lewis said she has worked with state Rep. Elaine Gannon, R-DeSoto, to create House Bill 169, which would - subject to state funding - have the state's Department of Elementary and Secondary Education establish a statewide "Internet and Social Media Awareness Program" to instruct fourth-grade public school students in appropriate online behavior, beginning with the 2020-21 school year.
The bill would also create an optional course for eighth-grade students.
The bill passed the House with 114 votes in favor and 29 against, and was publicly heard by the Senate's education committee Tuesday. Another public hearing and an executive session on the bill in the Senate is scheduled this coming Tuesday.
Lewis said Missouri is one of the few states without such a program, and "it's about time for it."
She said parents also need to be vigilant about their children's web browsing and electronic messaging activities.
"Your child is not entitled to privacy" from parents, she said. She acknowledged it gets tough in high school, when students might want that privacy most, but that's also the most important time to be checking what they're doing online.
The earlier students are educated in good digital citizenship, Lewis said, the fewer problems they'll have later in life.