Computing · Wellbeing and personal development
Online choices: digital citizenship discussion
Discuss how online choices can affect people and practise safe responses to difficult situations. The two-page A4 pack contains eight comic scenario cards about group chats, passwords, photos, rumours, gaming, strangers, in-game spending and exclusion, plus group reflection prompts.
Talk through a possible next step. Keep the people anonymous and discuss a kind, safe response.
Read the complete materialRead the material
Discuss how online choices can affect people and practise safe responses to difficult situations. The two-page A4 pack contains eight comic scenario cards about group chats, passwords, photos, rumours, gaming, strangers, in-game spending and exclusion, plus group reflection prompts.
Shared activity record. Use the preview for diagrams and layout.
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NAME CLASS DATE LEARNING GOAL Think through tricky online situations and choose actions that are kind and safe. SUCCESS CRITERIA I can explain how an online choice can affect other people. I can name the safe steps if a stranger contacts me online. I can say who I could ask for help. 1 Cut out and talk Cut along the dashed lines. Read each card aloud and talk it through. No real names. Digital citizenship discussion Cards 5 to 8 PSHE AND COMPUTING AGES 10 TO 13 DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP Online choices Eight comic scenario cards to cut out and talk through. What could you do? PING! Group chat. Someone posts an unkind joke about a classmate in a group chat. Others send laughing faces. What could you do? Think it through: How might the classmate feel? What could you do that is kind, and safe for you too? Should I say something? Password. Your best friend wants your game password so they can win levels for you. What could you do? Think it through: Why should a password stay private, even from a good friend? How could you say no kindly? Go on, I’ll level you up! Photo. A friend posts an embarrassing photo of you without asking. Lots of people have seen it. What could you do? Think it through: Who should agree before a photo is posted? What could you ask your friend to do? I never said they could post that. Viral post. A shocking post says school is closed tomorrow. It has thousands of shares and a link. What could you do? Think it through: How could you check if it is true before you share it? Who would really know? Is it really true? NEXT 1 2 3 4 Page 1 of 2
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2 After the talk The best idea our group heard One thing I will do online this week GO FURTHER Invent card 9. Write its caption and a think it through question. Then swap with another group. Digital citizenship discussion TALK IT THROUGH PSHE AND COMPUTING SCENARIO CARDS More online choices Late night. It is 11 pm on a school night. Your team in an online game wants one more round. What could you do? Think it through: How might you feel tomorrow? What could you say to your team? One more round! Don’t leave us! New contact. Someone you do not know messages you in a game. What could you do? Do not share personal info or photos. Never arrange to meet. Tell a trusted adult. Block and report. Think it through: Why might people online pretend? I’m your age. Let’s chat in private. Send a photo? In-game shop. A free game shows offers with a countdown timer. A payment card is saved on the tablet. What could you do? Think it through: Why do games use countdown timers? Who should you ask before you buy anything? Offer ends soon! Buy gems now! Left out. Friends make a new group chat to plan a party. One friend was not added and has noticed. What could you do? Think it through: How would it feel to be left out? What small thing could you do? Why wasn’t I added? 5 6 7 8 Page 2 of 2
A teaching sequence
Discuss safer, kinder responses to online situations and identify who can help when a pupil is concerned.
Talk through a possible next step. Keep the people anonymous and discuss a kind, safe response.
Read the complete materialRead the invented situation
Read one scenario aloud using no real names and ask what could happen to the people involved.
Who could be affected by the online choice in this card?
Consider a kind, safe response
Consider a response that is kind and safe, using the question on the card rather than sharing a personal story.
What response addresses the card without requiring a personal story?
Rehearse help for new contact
For a new contact, follow the printed safety steps: do not share details or arrange a meeting, tell a trusted adult, block and report.
Which trusted adult can help before any information or meeting is offered?
Record an idea and follow-up
Record one group idea and one online action to try; an adult should follow up any concern raised. Identify a trusted adult in the scenario without naming classmates.
Who could help in this situation without naming classmates?
Before you teach
Look for the thinking behind an answer, choose the support your class needs and leave room for an independent response.
What to look for
Look for a response that accounts for safety and the effect on others, and that identifies a trusted adult when needed. Ask: “Who could help you with this situation?” Do not ask pupils to identify classmates or disclose account details during the discussion.
Give a little support
Use one scenario at a time, allow pupils to pass and give access to a trusted adult after discussion. Rehearse the stranger-contact steps without inviting students to simulate an actual unsafe conversation.
Take the idea further
Invite groups to write a new fictional scenario and a question that helps peers think about both safety and kindness. Have an adult review the scenario before it is shared with the class.
Things to keep in mind
The scenarios are prompts for adult-facilitated discussion, not a substitute for the school’s online-safety policy or safeguarding response. Verify platform-specific advice and avoid collecting real names, passwords, photos or accounts during the activity.
Keep the idea. Make it yours.
Bring your topic, learning goal and class context to PLAI™, then review what you create.
Ideas for using this resource
Sample teaching perspectives on what to try, what to adapt and what to watch for.
Meet The Creators
Meet the creators whose teaching interests connect with this template. Find an approach to try with your class.
Bernadette Cheong
Transition into secondary school is not just a change of timetable; it can change how pupils see themselves and how they experience familiar strengths.
Meet the creator
Daniel Lee
I teach debugging through working artefacts: pupils compare what they expected with what happened, change one part at a time and explain what they tested and improved.
Meet the creator
Good Question
The cut-out set includes an unkind group-chat joke, a request for a password, an embarrassing photo posted without permission and a viral school-closure claim. “No real names” keeps the scenarios separate from personal disclosures.
One More Question
The two-page discussion asks pupils to consider impact, privacy, verification and who can help. The scenarios support talk about safer responses rather than rewarding a single retold personal story.
Steady Marker
Read one card aloud and discuss who a pupil could ask for help before moving to the next. The group can consider a kind response that is also safe for the person speaking, as the prompt explicitly asks.
Glue Stick Club
These are practice scenarios, not a reporting channel or a substitute for the school’s safeguarding process. Keep names fictional, and follow local procedures if discussion reveals a real online safety concern.