| MediaSmarts

That's Not Cool: Healthy and Respectful Relationships Online

In this lesson, students begin by considering one of five scenarios that illustrate unhealthy relationship behaviours relating to digital media: pressuring others to share private content, cyberstalking, harassment and abuse of trust. Students then relate the scenarios to their own experience by brainstorming other examples of these behaviours and voting on which they feel are most relevant to their lives. The teacher then leads a guided discussion on the reasons why unhealthy behaviours may be more common when we communicate through digital media and ways in which they can be avoided or mitigated. Finally, students act out their own scenario in which they portray young people successfully dealing with one of the unhealthy relationship behaviours.

Digital Citizenship, Internet & Mobile, Online Ethics

Promoting Ethical Online Behaviours with Your Kids

Most kids live as much of their lives online as they do offline. But on the Internet there are lots of moral and ethical choices that don’t have to be made offline. These tips lay out ways you can help your children develop a moral compass to guide them through those choices.

Authenticating Information, Cyber Security, Digital Citizenship, Intellectual Property, Internet & Mobile, Online Ethics

How Parents Can Promote Ethical Online Behaviours with Kids

We generally think of our kids’ online and offline lives as being two separate things. In reality, they constantly overlap, flowing back and forth face-to-face in the schoolyard and through texts and social networks at home. But on the Internet there are lots of moral and ethical choices that don’t have to be made offline.

Cyber Security, Digital Citizenship, Online Ethics, Parents, Social Networking

Getting the goods ethically

One of the most common ethical decisions kids face online relates to how they access and use content like music, games and videos. We can help kids make better choices by teaching them about the issue: in one study, one-quarter of young people said that they would stop accessing content illegally if it was more clear what was legal and what wasn’t.

Authenticating Information, Cyber Security, Digital Citizenship, Intellectual Property, Internet & Mobile, Online Ethics

New classroom resources on media and global development

Much of what we believe about the world comes from the media products we see and hear. This is especially true of places and things we might not have actually experienced, such as developing nations and global development efforts. Beyond Media Messages: Media Portrayal of Global Development looks at how the media influences our views of developing nations and global development efforts, how we can learn to read or view media portrayals critically and how we can become media authors to promote democratic citizenship.

Global Development Portrayal, Resources

Making Media for Democratic Citizenship - Lesson

In this five- or six-day unit, students create a video podcast to present balanced, unbiased perspectives on global development issues.

Global Development Portrayal, Media Production

Beyond Media Messages: Media Portrayal of Global Development

In this three-day unit, students assess media coverage of natural disasters and their aftermath. Students explore how sensationalism plays a role in determining what is newsworthy, and how that can distort our perception of issues in developing nations.

Authenticating Information, Global Development Portrayal, Journalism & News, Stereotyping

Introduction to Cyberbullying: Avatars and Identity - Lesson

Because of the ways that digital media leave out many of the cues that prompt us to feel empathy, it is easy for young people to sometimes forget that real people – with real feelings – are at the heart of online conversations. In this lesson, students are provided with opportunities to explore this concept and discuss the importance of using empathy and common sense when talking to others online.

Cyberbullying, Digital Citizenship, Digital Health, Internet & Mobile, Online Ethics