Safer Internet Day, celebrated in February, is a great opportunity to teach students about online safety, digital responsibility, and respectful behaviour online.
https://better-internet-for-kids.europa.eu/en/saferinternetday
Here are some things you could do in class with older students:
Create an Internet Safety Poster
- Activity: Have students design posters with key internet safety tips, such as “Don’t share personal information” or “Be kind online.” They can use drawings and slogans to make the message clear.
- Classroom Display: Showcase these posters around the school to spread awareness about safe online practices.
Internet Safety Role-Play
- Activity: Organise a role-play session where students act out scenarios they might encounter online (e.g., someone asking for personal information, encountering cyberbullying, or clicking on a suspicious link).
- Discussion: After each scenario, discuss what the safest response would be, emphasising the importance of talking to an adult if something online makes them uncomfortable.
Create a “Digital Footprint” Collage
- Activity: Teach students about digital footprints—how everything we do online leaves a trail. Have them create a collage with footprints, writing down the types of things that make up their digital footprint (e.g., photos, comments, likes).
- Lesson: Discuss how a positive digital footprint is important and how we can make good choices about what we share online.
Online Respect and Kindness Pledge
- Activity: As a class, write an Online Respect and Kindness Pledge, where students commit to treating others kindly online, not engaging in cyberbullying, and reporting inappropriate content.
- Extension: Each student can sign the pledge and take a copy home to share with their families, reinforcing online kindness and safety both at school and at home.
