Good morning, everyone! My name is Molina Johnson, and I teach at Ranch and MPUS Middle School. Today, we’re going to learn about staying safe when talking to people online. Let’s start by thinking about how much time we spend on the internet. Do you spend at least 30 minutes a day online? Maybe an hour or even more?
When we’re online, we often chat with friends. But sometimes, we might talk to people we don’t know. It’s important to be careful about who we talk to and what we share. Let’s learn some key words to help us understand this better.
The first word is “inappropriate.” This means something that’s not okay or not suitable. Next is “risky,” which means something could be dangerous. An “online predator” is an adult who tries to befriend kids or teenagers online for bad reasons. We need to watch out for warning signs, like if someone asks you to keep your friendship a secret.
We know not to share personal information online, but sometimes people use tricks to get us to share more than we should. Let’s look at some scenarios to practice spotting these warning signs. At each table, you have three pieces of construction paper: green, yellow, and red. These are like stoplight colors: green means go, yellow means slow down, and red means stop.
When you’re chatting online, think about these colors. Should you keep talking (green), be cautious (yellow), or stop the conversation (red)? Discuss with your group and decide which color fits the situation. Explain why you chose that color.
It’s important to remember that being online isn’t bad. We just need to be careful and make smart choices. If something feels wrong, it’s okay to stop and tell an adult. Learning about online safety helps us avoid risky situations and stay safe.
For example, if someone asks for your age, that’s a yellow light. Be cautious! If someone wants to keep things private, that’s a red light. Stop and tell someone you trust.
By learning these lessons, we can enjoy being online while staying safe. If we know what to look out for, we can make good decisions and avoid inappropriate or risky situations. Remember, it’s not about being scared—it’s about being smart and safe!
Imagine you’re chatting online and someone asks for your personal information. With a partner, act out what you would do in this situation. Use the stoplight colors to decide if you should continue the conversation, be cautious, or stop. Discuss your choices with the class.
Design a poster that highlights the key words and warning signs discussed in the lesson. Use drawings and colors to make it engaging. Display your poster in the classroom to remind everyone about online safety.
Take a short quiz to test your knowledge about online safety. The quiz will include questions about what to do in different online situations. Discuss the answers with your classmates and learn from each other.
In small groups, share stories you have heard about online safety. Discuss what the person did right or wrong and what you would do differently. This will help you learn from real-life examples.
Work in teams to create a concept for a chat app that includes safety features. Think about how the app can help users make safe choices online. Present your app to the class and explain how it keeps users safe.
Sure! Here’s a sanitized version of the provided YouTube transcript:
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[Music]
Good morning, everybody! You are the sunshine of our lives. My name is Molina Johnson, and I teach at Ranch and MPUS Middle School. I teach English Language Arts and the AVID elective.
How many of you have a computer at home? The lesson I’m going to teach is on safe online communication. I’ll start by gathering some background information from the students about their online usage—how often they’re online, how much time they spend online.
How many of you spend at least 30 minutes a day online? An hour? Two hours? Three hours? Oh my goodness, four hours?
We’re using Common Core standards, and this has to do with reading for information in middle school, which is a big deal, along with reading fiction. The students have to be able to read non-fiction, read for information, provide evidence from the text, and make inferences based on what they’ve read and their experiences.
So my next question is: Who do you talk to online? Friends? I think that’s the number one answer, right? How many of you would say you’re talking to your friends? Okay, who else are you talking to? Be honest.
Unknown people? Random people? How many of you talk to people you’ve never met in person? It happens, right? It’s expected. That’s part of the beauty of being online; we can learn from people we can’t communicate with on a daily basis.
We will go over the key vocabulary to ensure they understand the terms I’ll be using. The first word is “inappropriate.” It’s probably a word you’ve heard many times here at school, right? We talk about inappropriate behavior.
“Risky” means potentially dangerous. The term “online predator” refers to an adult who stalks kids or teenagers on the internet. We’ll go through the list of warning signs. This is a big one: If they ask you to keep the friendship a secret or if your communication online is secret.
The kids have shared that they’re already comfortable with knowing they shouldn’t share personal information, but some of the more subtle grooming tactics that online predators tend to use—they’re not as familiar with.
We’ll move on to the written scenarios, and in those, I want them to look for the warnings we’ve gone over. At every table, you have three pieces of construction paper: a green one, a yellow one, and a red one. What do you associate these colors with?
Stoplight colors: green means go, red means stop, and yellow means slow down. Yes! When you’re online communicating with someone, these signs come up. Do you give it the green light to keep communicating? Do you slow down and say, “Maybe I need to be more cautious,” or do you stop and end all communication?
I’m going to give you about a minute or so to discuss with your group which color light you’re going to apply to that situation, and I want you to be able to explain to me why you chose that color light. I want them to sort of put themselves in the place of that character. What would you do if that was you? Would you continue that conversation? Would you stop? Would you tell an adult? Discuss with your group and decide.
I think the curriculum is extremely effective because we’re not approaching it in a way that says being online is bad. Stay away from the computer, stay away from chat rooms. Everything’s high-tech now, so we’re online more often, and we can become careless about what we’re doing.
If we have these lessons, it will remind us and caution us. Why yellow? Because asking for age is still one of the warning signs. Right, very good! I think some of the kids understand that maybe this is a conversation they shouldn’t have anymore, but they’re not taking that extra step to tell someone else about it so someone knows they’ve had this experience.
It’s good for people to be learning about this kind of stuff because it does happen in the real world. It’s common, and people should try to avoid that and stay safe.
This group had red. Why red? Well, because even though it says they didn’t get too personal, she’s still venting to him about what’s going on in her life. If it’s at home and at school, then he’s going to know who those people are and find out more that way without straight-up asking her.
So because she’s venting, she might accidentally give personal information. I’d say we’re teaching them to be cautious, not to be scared. They can appreciate that we’re not telling them, “Don’t do this thing that you love to do.” They’re willing to listen.
Today, he writes, “Can I show you a picture?” Before she types a response, he says again, “Keep this private.”
Okay, I like you, Cat. I hope you like me too. Everybody hold up your color double. If we can teach them to use these tools safely and positively, they’ll be okay. They will make the right decisions when things seem inappropriate, risky, or awkward, and they’ll know to back out of that situation.
[Music]
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This version maintains the essence of the original transcript while removing any potentially sensitive or inappropriate content.
Online – Connected to or available through the internet. – Example sentence: When doing research for her English project, Sarah found many useful articles online.
Safe – Free from danger or harm. – Example sentence: It is important to keep your passwords safe and not share them with anyone.
Risky – Involving the possibility of danger or loss. – Example sentence: Sharing too much personal information on social media can be risky.
Inappropriate – Not suitable or proper in the circumstances. – Example sentence: Using inappropriate language in class can lead to consequences.
Predator – A person who exploits others, especially for personal gain. – Example sentence: Online predators may try to trick you into sharing personal information.
Personal – Relating to an individual’s private life or identity. – Example sentence: It is important to keep your personal details private when using the internet.
Information – Facts or details about a subject. – Example sentence: Gathering accurate information is crucial for writing a good report.
Choices – Decisions made between two or more options. – Example sentence: Making healthy food choices is important for maintaining good health.
Signs – Indications or signals that something exists or is true. – Example sentence: Recognizing the signs of cyberbullying can help you support a friend in need.
Decisions – Conclusions or resolutions reached after consideration. – Example sentence: Making responsible decisions online can help keep you and your information safe.
