Internet Safety
Cyberbullying
Thursday
Grades 3 - 5
Classroom Activity: Speak Up, Reach Out, Be a Friend
Lesson Overview:
Cyberbullies use the Internet, cell phones, instant messaging and other electronic
communication to harass and threaten their victims. The focus of this lesson is to help students
identify cyberbullying and the ways they can prevent it and/or stop it.
Discussion Points:
1.
Discuss the positive things that can be gained by using the Internet. (finding
information, meeting new people, having fun, playing games)
2.
Discuss how students feel about going into cyberspace. (Happy, curious, excited,
etc.)
3.
Discuss how they might feel if they have a bad online experience. (Upset, angry, hurt,
embarrassed)
4.
Discuss actions they can take if they are a victim of cyberbullying – Don’t retaliate,
ignore, block, sign off, tell an adult.
Instructions for Activity:
The following lesson plan is taken in part from a lesson plan copyrighted by Cybersmart! A
link to the exact lesson plan is provided below. Additionally, we have provided the critical
information from the lesson plan here for those who are unable to access the website from
their classroom.*
1. Begin with Discussion points 1 and 2. Be sure to explain that in order to really enjoy the
Internet it is important to learn how to behave responsibly while visiting the World Wide
Web.
2. Online: Ask students what actions they would define as “cyberbullying.” Then have the
complete the online quiz at
http://www.stopcyberbullying.org/kids/are_you_a_cyberbully.html. (Have students
secretly tally their responses to the Quiz below before you reveal the scoring information)
3. Offline: If you are unable to go online, have the students brainstorm a list of activities
that they believe constitute cyberbullying. (For students with little Internet experience, you
may want to conduct this as a general discussion on bullying.) Be sure that they include
the following: impersonation (using someone else’s password to gather information or
cause problems, teasing, threatening, forwarding a private message without permission,
posting pictures or information about someone else without permission, creating an
Internet poll about someone without their consent, sending rude or scary messages,
games or pictures to someone, refusing to identify self, using bad language, insulting
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someone in words or by pictures.) Discuss why each of these actions would constitute
cyberbullying.
4. Both Online and Offline: Break the students into small groups and have them complete
Activity Sheet #1. Allow sufficient time for students to develop thoughtful answers. If time
allows, each group should share their responses with the rest of the class. Use
Discussion Points 3 and 4 to guide the discussion. (If students bring up that a website
might fall under Free Speech point out that whether the action is allowed under the
Constitution or not, bullying is unkind and hurtful. Such actions may also be against
school rules and be grounds for disciplinary action. For older students you may also wish
to discuss the ethics of using a website to spread untruths without allowing the victim to
respond.)
5. Complete the lesson by having students identifying what they could do if they were
friends with either Sondra or Andrew.
Extension Activities:
6. Shrink the Cyberbully game http://www.mcgruff.com/games/
7. Design a Bookmark “Stop Cyberbullying” Word Template provided
8. Activity Sheet 2 can be used as a follow-up or for further teaching. To use, have students
circle all the words that indicate discomfort in the paragraph and then discuss the
characteristics of bullying.
9. Have students design anti-cyberbullying posters (in teams or individually) and display
them around the school.
Materials/Internet Site:
 Teacher Complete Lesson Plan & Handouts at
http://www.cybersmartcurriculum.org/lesson_plans/68_04.asp
 Activity Sheet 1 (pdf document)
 Shrink the Cyberbully game: http://www.mcgruff.com/games/
 Quiz http://www.stopcyberbullying.org/kids/are_you_a_cyberbully.html
 Extension Activity: Design a Bookmark – Stop Cyberbullying (Word Template)
*This lesson plan was modified to meet the time limitations of this project. The original lesson
plan and copyright holder for this modified lesson plan is The CyberSmart Education Company
located at www.cybersmartcurriculum.org Materials are intended for instructional use of
teachers or professional educators and is to be distributed free of charge for use in the
classroom.
Parent Connection
Pass out the Parent Letter for students to bring home.
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