Back to School, Not Distraction: How to Support Focus and Digital Citizenship
- The Deledao Team
- Aug 4
- 4 min read
Updated: Sep 29
According to the 2022 PISA results, U.S. student math scores declined by 15 points in the span of four years, the most significant drop since the assessment began. Why? Global results indicate disrupted learning environments and increasing challenges in maintaining student focus.
Even worse, two-thirds of students reported being digitally distracted during class, and more than half (54%) cited distractions from peers viewing non-instructional content nearby.
For educators, this signals a direct threat to student achievement. However, for us at the Deledao team, with 35 years of experience in the Edtech space as former teachers and IT directors, it’s a red flag to take digital citizenship seriously.
What is Digital Citizenship?
Digital citizenship refers to being responsible and safe when using technology in a connected world. For students, having digital citizenship directly affects how they behave online, interact with others, and ultimately how they make choices in both academic and personal life.
Digital citizenship is a life skill. Students who master it are proven to become more thoughtful, self-aware device users who can thrive without teacher monitoring.
If you’re in education, think of digital citizenship as the digital equivalent of social-emotional learning; it’s become an essential component of teaching today. We must prepare students for the real world of distractions, so they know how to behave online and interact with others.
Why Do Schools Struggle to Promote Digital Citizenship?
Because they may not know how to, or because they may be overwhelmed by other incumbent challenges. Take traditional content filters, for example. They’re designed to block digital distractions and inappropriate content (a legal requirement under CIPA).
But do they help instruction or promote self-regulation of devices? The answer is often no, according to a 2024 study by the Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT).
68% of students and 71% of teachers reported that content filters actively impede students’ ability to complete schoolwork.
The study found that filters are frequently "out of step" with modern instructional needs, routinely blocking access to legitimate educational resources, particularly in subjects like health, history, or current events.
Even well-intentioned filters, when too rigid, can create unnecessary friction for students and staff, such as:
Generate tech support requests
Limit learning autonomy for students
Overlook rewarding self-regulating students
Force teachers to “work around” technology instead of working with it.
Ask yourself: Do these legacy filters actually teach our students to become responsible digital citizens, or are the strict blocklists they tout just a band-aid for an issue they are unable to fully address?
If you want students who can self-regulate, you’ll have to move past blocklists and basic filtering.
Filtering Alone Isn’t Enough. We Need to Build Students’ Ability to Focus.
Have you heard of Self-Regulated Learning (SRL)? It’s the practice of helping students set goals, plan their actions, monitor progress, and reflect on outcomes. And this isn’t some new age term; it’s a proven framework that builds independence and academic resilience.
Research shows:
Tekkol & Demirel (2018) found that SRL is essential for lifelong learning.
Latipah et al. (2021), Muwonge et al. (2020), and Nguyen & Zarra-Nezhad (2023) found that SRL prepares students for college, the workforce, and success across diverse learning environments.
These skills are especially crucial in digital spaces, where constant distractions demand stronger self-regulation.
We have to note, however, that SRL doesn’t just happen. It needs to be modeled, supported, and practiced within the learning environment, providing students with technology that helps them stay on track and gives them real-time feedback when they drift off task.
What does SRL Look Like in a K12 web filtering system?
Recognizes context, dynamically reviewing web pages, videos, and tools as they load.
Restricts only what's truly distracting, such as off-task YouTube content or misuse of generative AI, without blocking essential resources.
Supports teacher intent, rather than undermining it.
Offers students redirection and clarity, not just “access denied” pages.
Aligns with visible learning goals, incorporating self-regulation into daily digital learning.
How Real-time Web Filters Work Smarter for Today’s Needs
The new age of web filters adapts as fast as the internet does. AI-powered web filters, like Deledao’s AI-powered technology, dynamically adapt to context in real-time to distinguish between distractions and valid academic content. They also support instructional goals, not just block them.
But most importantly, they operate with the knowledge that not all of your students require the same level of restriction when it comes to their online usage.
Research from Deledao case studies conducted across six school districts and 1,000 students found that the majority of students (94%) fall into two categories:
Semi-distracted
Easily distracted
Only 6% of students demonstrated truly self-directed behavior in their digital use.
This highlights an important reality: the vast majority of students benefit from structured online environments that guide their focus without limiting access to educational content.
Avoids one-size-fits-all blocklists
As educators, we know that few challenges are one-size-fits-all, and your content filter shouldn’t be either. Just as students have different learning needs, they also engage with technology in different ways, as SRL describes.
That’s why Deledao’s AI-powered filtering has SRL built in. It recognizes this diversity to offer flexible, intelligent support that adjusts in real time, empowering self-directed learners while providing greater guidance for those who need it. This is digital citizenship.
A Better Back-to-School Digital Experience
As district leaders, we recognize that student success is closely tied to academic engagement. However, as digital distractions become increasingly difficult to block, legacy filters can no longer meet today’s instructional and operational demands alone.
That’s why forward-thinking schools are utilizing AI-powered web filtering tools like Deledao to not only block content in real-time but also guide students toward achieving digital citizenship.
Real-time AI web filtering tools provide students with:
Smarter tools that reduce distractions without creating barriers.
Environments where goals are visible, learning is uninterrupted, and responsibility is cultivated.
Systems that support not just compliance, but growth for digital citizenship.
Move past software that treats all students the same
This school year, let’s move beyond blunt instruments that treat all students the same. Consider switching to an intelligent web filtering software, designed to support instructional priorities and guide students toward digital self-regulation.
