Finding a Balance in a Digital World - Media Balance and Wellbeing

We use digital media every day, from texting, streaming TV programmes and gaming, all the way to using voice assistants or ordering our food online. For today's children and young people, it's a lot more than just "screen time". So how can we help learners balance their online and offline lives? It starts with recognising just how much media we use.

Objectives:

• Reflect on their common online and offline activities.

• Identify ways to "unplug" to maintain balance between online and offline activities.

• Use the "Digital Habits Checkup" routine to create a personal challenge to achieve more media balance.

Who are you online? Digital Footprint and Identity

What does it actually mean to "be yourself" or to "be real"? Those are deep thoughts for any young person. For children and young people today, these questions matter online, too. Help your learners explore why some people create different or alternate personas for themselves online and on social media.

Objectives:

• Reflect on reasons why people might create fake social media accounts.

• Identify the possible results of posting from a fake social media account.

• Debate the benefits and drawbacks of posting from multiple accounts.

Digital Drama Unplugged: Cyberbullying, Digital Drama and Hate Speech

Miscommunication is a common occurrence online and on social media. Plus, being behind a screen makes it easier for learners to say things they wouldn't say in person. So how do we help them avoid the pitfalls of digital drama? By teaching them tips on avoiding online drama in the first place and de-escalating drama when it happens.

Objectives:

• Reflect on how easily drama can escalate online.

• Identify de-escalation strategies when dealing with digital drama.

• Reflect on how digital drama can affect not only oneself but also those around us

Dont Feed the Phish - Privicy and Security 

Internet scams are part of being online today, but many children and young people might not be aware of them. How do we help our learners avoid being tricked into clicking malicious links or giving out private information? Use this lesson to help children and young people avoid online identity theft and phishing schemes.

Objectives:

• Compare and contrast identity theft with other kinds of theft.

• Describe different ways that identity theft can occur online.

• Use message clues to identify examples of phishing.

Chatting Sefely online: Relationships and Communication 

Games, social media and other online spaces give children and young people opportunities to meet and chat with others outside the confines of their real-life communities. But how well do children and young people actually know the people they're meeting and interacting with? Help learners consider whom they're talking to and the types of information they're sharing online.

Objectives:

• Analyse how well they know the people they interact with online.

• Reflect on what information is safe to share with different types of online friends.

• Learn to recognise red flag feelings and use the "Feelings & Options" thinking routine to respond to them.

Finding Credible News - News and Media Literacy 

The web is full of questionable material, from rumours and inaccurate information to outright lies and so-called "fake news". So how do we help learners weed out the bad and find what's credible? Help learners dig into why and how false information ends up on the internet, and then practice evaluating the credibility of what they're finding online.

See the US version of this resource

Objectives:

• Learn reasons that people put false or misleading information on the internet.

• Learn criteria for differentiating fake news from credible news.

• Practise evaluating the credibility of information they find on the internet.