Safe and Responsible Online

Overview

Lesson 6 of 9 in Power and Participation in Aotearoa. Students explore how people participate online, identify simple online safety choices, and learn that digital information is not always reliable.

Learning intentions

• WALT explain what it means to be a responsible digital citizen.
• WALT identify safe and unsafe choices when using digital tools.
• WALT notice clues that information may be incorrect or misleading.
• WALT describe how our online actions can affect others.

Success criteria

• I can name at least two ways to stay safe online.
• I can explain why I should check information before sharing it.
• I can choose a kind and responsible response to an online situation.
• I can say who I can ask for help if something online worries me.

Curriculum links

• Social Sciences: Understand how people participate individually and collectively in response to community issues.
• Social Sciences: Explore how people make decisions and take action as members of communities, including digital communities.
• Health and Physical Education: Relationships with others; identify safe choices and seek help when needed.
• Key Competencies: Managing self, relating to others, participating and contributing, and thinking.
• Digital Technologies: Use digital tools safely, respectfully, and responsibly.

Lesson structure (45 minutes)

1. 0–5 minutes – Hook: Would you share it? Display a colourful fictional message: “A famous person is giving every child a free tablet—send your name and address now!” Open with the mystery message hook and ask students to show thumbs up, sideways, or down: “Would you share this?” Do not ask students to provide personal information. Explain that today they are learning to make wise choices online.

2. 5–12 minutes – What is digital citizenship? Explain that a digital citizen is someone who uses devices and online spaces safely, kindly, and responsibly. Introduce three child-friendly rules: protect yourself, check before you share, and respect others. Use the three digital citizen rules to model examples, such as using a nickname rather than a full name, checking with a trusted adult, and asking permission before sharing a photo.

3. 12–22 minutes – Safe or unsafe? Read six short scenarios from the safe-or-unsafe scenarios. Examples include: a game asks for your home address; a friend sends an unkind message; a video says “this is definitely true”; and a child asks an adult before downloading an app. Students silently show a safe/unsafe hand signal, then explain their thinking to a partner. Reinforce: stop, do not reply or click, save evidence if appropriate, and tell a trusted adult.

4. 22–32 minutes – Information detectives In pairs, distribute the digital citizenship detective sheet. Students examine three simple fictional posts: a surprising claim, an advertisement, and an unkind rumour. For each, they circle clues such as “Who made it?”, “Does it sound too good to be true?”, and “Can I check it with a trusted adult or another reliable source?” Model that a picture or confident-sounding statement does not automatically make information true.

5. 32–39 minutes – Responsible responses Invite pairs to choose one scenario from the worksheet and rehearse a response. Suggested sentence starters are: “I’m not sure this is true, so I will check”; “Please don’t share that photo”; and “I will tell a trusted adult.” Pairs share responses while the teacher highlights kindness, privacy, checking, and seeking help.

6. 39–45 minutes – Class agreement and exit reflection Build a four-part class agreement on the board: Keep information private; check before sharing; be kind; ask for help. Revisit the class agreement and reflection. Students complete the final reflection on the worksheet: “One safe choice I can make is…” and “One person I can ask for help is…”. Invite two or three volunteers to share.

Resources

• the digital citizenship teaching deck
• the digital citizenship detective sheet
• Projector or interactive whiteboard
• Pencils and coloured pencils
• Board or chart paper for the class agreement
• Optional classroom device for teacher demonstration only
• A list of trusted adults or school support people

Assessment

• Observe students’ responses to the safe/unsafe scenarios and listen for reasons, not just correct answers.
• Check worksheets for one or more accurate online safety strategies and an attempt to identify misleading information.
• Use the final reflection to identify students who need further teaching about privacy, checking information, or seeking help.

Differentiation

• Support learners by reading scenarios aloud, using icons and gestures, and providing sentence starters such as “I would…” and “I can ask…”.
• Pair students strategically; allow drawing or oral responses instead of writing full sentences.
• For EAL learners, pre-teach private, safe, share, check, rumour, and trusted adult with simple examples.
• Extend confident learners by asking them to explain why a message might be designed to persuade or trick someone, and to suggest a safer alternative.