This unit will focus on protecting the privacy of students who are engaging in online activities. Students will learn how to distinguish between appropriate and inappropriate online disclosure, how to protect themselves from deceptive practices, and reasons to avoid sexting. They will also create a personal internet safety action plan. The unit will culminate in a project where students will write short stories, based on real-life events, about potential consequences of not practicing internet safety.

• Lesson 1: Practicing Internet Safety
• Lesson 2: Who Am I Really Talking To?
• Lesson 3: What Should I Share?
• Lesson 4: Protecting Your Online Privacy
• Lesson 5: Creating a Privacy Action Plan
• Project: Internet Privacy Gone Wrong – Short Stories

Lesson 1: Practicing Internet Safety
Students will learn about practices and precautions they should take in order to be safer online by watching and discussing a video as well as comparing physical-world and online-world safety practices.

Lesson 2: Who Am I Really Talking To?
Students will learn the danger posed when a person pretends to be someone they’re not online. They will discuss the risks of interacting with unknown people, as well as warning signs of potential danger, and what to do if they suspect that someone is trying to deceive them.

Lesson 3: What Should I Share?
Students will learn about certain factors they should consider before posting online or sending a message to someone. They will discuss potential social and legal consequences of certain types of posts or sharing.

Lesson 4: Protecting Your Online Privacy
Students will continue to deepen their understanding of online privacy by reading and discussing a graphic novel called Social Smarts: Privacy, the Internet and You. Specific topics include the importance of strong passwords, privacy and online gaming, and protecting your mobile devices.

Lesson 5: Creating a Privacy Action Plan
Students will use what they have learned in this unit to create their own Internet Privacy Action Plan that includes three categories: Protecting My Information, Communication with Others, and Preventing/Responding to an Unsafe/Questionable Situation.

Project: Internet Privacy Gone Wrong – Short Stories
Students will write short stories, based on real-life events, about potential consequences of not practicing internet safety.