My Voice is Louder Than Hate: The Impact of Hate Lesson Plan

Online Hate

Level: Grades 9 to 10

About the Author: Matthew Johnson, Director of Education, MediaSmarts

Duration: 1 ½ to 2 hours

This lesson is part of the My Voice is Louder Than Hate program. This program was possible with financial contributions from Public Safety Canada’s Community Resilience Fund.

This lesson is part of USE, UNDERSTAND & ENGAGE: A Digital Media Literacy Framework for Canadian Schools.

Overview

In this lesson, students explore how interacting through digital media can make it easier to hurt someone’s feelings and can make hurtful or prejudiced behaviour seem normal in online spaces. They learn how Canadian youth feel about and respond to casual prejudice online and then use the My Voice is Louder Than Hate tool to create a digital story that will help people understand that online hate hurts everyone who witnesses it.

Although it can be delivered on its own, this lesson is designed as the first of a two-part lesson series which continues with My Voice is Louder Than Hate: Pushing Back Against Hate.

Learning Outcomes

Students will:

  • explore the issue of online hate
  • understand how digital tools can influence how we communicate with others
  • understand how social norms are created in online communities and learn how to take an active role in shaping them
  • learn about the elements of a Digital Story and what constitutes a good example of this form
  • learn how to organize their photos and video into a coherent sequence, including voice recording
  • create a media product

This lesson and all associated documents (handouts, overheads, backgrounders) are available in an easy-print, pdf kit version.

Lesson Kit