Safer Internet Day 2019 Educational resources for 11-14 Year Olds

10 Dec 2018 Becca Cawthorne

For Safer Internet Day 2019, the UK Safer Internet Centre has created educational resources for educators to deliver young people aged 3-18 years old, including specific resources tailored for use with 11-14 year olds.

Safer Internet Day 2019 will be celebrated globally on Tuesday 5th February 2019 with the slogan ‘Together for a better internet’.

About Safer Internet Day 2019

In the UK each year we choose a theme that we think best suits the landscape of online safety in the country and the issues that young people may face online. The theme for Safer Internet Day 2019 is consent and through this we will look at the way that we give, ask and receive consent in an online context.

Each year to help schools to celebrate Safer Internet Day we create a range of Education Packs that look at the theme in a way that is suitable for children and young people of different ages.

For Safer Internet Day 2018 our Education Packs were downloaded over 800,000 times, with teachers telling us about the positive impact these lessons had on their pupils.

One teacher said:

‘Students felt confident and were given a platform which enabled them to discuss concerns, ask questions and make disclosures.’ – Secondary school teacher, Surrey.

What is in the pack for 11-14 year olds?

The pack facilitates discussion with young people through a range of interactive and thought provoking activities, all of which are relevant to how 11-14 year olds use the internet. This pack is filled with opportunities for discussion and debate, with practical messages which are designed to be applied in the real world. Multiple scenarios around the use of social networking platforms, messaging apps and friendship groups are included to help young people stay safe online   

The pack includes a lesson plan, assembly script, PowerPoint presentation, quick activities and whole school activities. There is also a social media template to help your school to join in with the national Safer Internet Day conversation. All of the activities are fun, easy to use and adaptable to be used in any educational setting.

What are the key learning objectives?

The learning outcomes within this pack will give young people the opportunity to recognise the importance of having a choice and giving others a choice online. This is done through exploring what consent is and what it looks like online.

The pack aims to empower young people to feel more confident in asking, saying yes or no, and reading what other people are communicating about their choices on the internet.

We can all feel pressured sometimes to share something online and often that can be done without much thought to what is being shared or who it might be about. Sometimes asking for consent or saying no to someone can feel awkward but the focus of this education pack is to make the space for those important discussions around the content we share online.

In the lesson plan consent is explored through the young person’s personal relationships with friends and family, whereas the assembly challenges the young person to think about the consent they give to others, including the data which they consent to be stored by online platforms.

Key activities from the pack

The ‘How many ways?’ activity is fast-paced and allows learners to think about the ways in which they can ask for, give or deny consent online.

Learners have just five minutes to come up with as many ways as possible to do this before feeding back to the group. These can be both verbal and non-verbal cues such as saying ‘I don’t want you to post that picture of me’ or nodding to someone in agreement to be added to a snapchat group.

Guidance for educators

This gives further advice about how to mark Safer Internet Day and information about how to handle disclosures and sensitive topics, as well as how you can spread the word even further, including by contacting local press.

Join hundreds of organisations across the UK

You can link up with the wider campaign taking place across the UK – and globally in over 130 countries – by joining the social media campaign and registering as an official supporter.

Simply complete our registration form to become an official supporter on our website and receive your supporter certificate.

Plus, download our template to make your pledges for the Safer Internet Day social media campaign #OurInternetOurChoice.

Key links