Lesson: Being an Active Witness to Cyberbullying
In this lesson, students consider how difficult and complicated it can sometimes be to do the right thing. Students are asked to consider whether they agree with a number of widely-held moral principles and then are asked to consider a moral dilemma in which a number of moral principles are in conflict, reflecting on how their view of it may change based on the details of the scenario. They then explore the idea of weighing different moral principles against one another and develop their own moral dilemmas.
Grade range: 7-10
Time Frame
| One class period (75 minutes) | Two or three class periods (150-225 minutes) | |
| Activities | Introduction to Online Meanness and Cruelty
Witnessing Online Meanness and Cruelty: What Can You Do? Witnessing Online Meanness and Cruelty: Complications Witnessing Online Meanness and Cruelty: Moral Dilemmas |
Introduction to Online Meanness and Cruelty
Witnessing Online Meanness and Cruelty: What Can You Do? Witnessing Online Meanness and Cruelty: Complications Witnessing Online Meanness and Cruelty: Moral Dilemmas Developing Dilemmas |
Preparation:
- Make sure that students are able to access the videos and interactive activities
A printable version of this lesson is available on the MediaSmarts website.
Learning Outcomes
Big ideas/key concepts: Students will understand that…
Digital media can have a real impact:
- Things we do in online spaces have a moral and emotional impact
- We can take positive action when we witness mean and cruel behaviour online
Key questions:
- What are the best ways to help when we witness mean and cruel behaviour online?
- How can we avoid making things worse?
Essential knowledge: Students will know…
- Ethics and empathy: Recognizing and resolving moral dilemmas; strategies for intervening as witnesses to online meanness and cruelty
- Key vocabulary: moral dilemma
Performance tasks: Students will be able to…
- Analyze the moral dimensions of online scenarios
- Identify best practices for intervening as witnesses
- Develop, analyze and explain original moral dilemmas
Student-friendly outcomes:
- We will learn how to recognize and resolve moral dilemmas online, and discover strategies for helping when we see mean or cruel behavior on the internet.
- We will think about the best ways to help in these situations and how to avoid making things worse.
- We will analyze the moral aspects of online scenarios, identify the best ways to step in as witnesses, and create and explain our own examples of moral dilemmas.
Curriculum Connections
Strand A: Literacy Connections and Applications
A1. Transferable Skills
A1.2 Student Agency and Engagement
evaluate and explain how transferable skills help them to express their voice, be engaged in their learning, and implement a plan to develop their capabilities and potential
A2. Digital Media Literacy
A2.1 Digital Citizenship
evaluate and explain their rights and responsibilities when interacting online with appropriate permission, and make decisions that contribute positively to the development of their digital identity and those of their communities
A2.2 Online Safety, Well-Being, and Etiquette
demonstrate an understanding of how to navigate online environments safely, manage their privacy, personal data, and security, and interact in a way that supports their well-being and that of others, including seeking appropriate permission
A2.7 Community and Cultural Awareness
communicate and collaborate with various communities in a safe, respectful, responsible, and inclusive manner when using online platforms and environments, including digital and media tools, and demonstrate and model cultural awareness with members of the community
Strand C: Comprehension (Understanding and Responding to Texts)
C2. Comprehension Strategies
C2.3 Monitoring of Understanding: Making and Confirming Predictions
make predictions using background knowledge and textual information, pose questions to confirm or refute their predictions, and revise or refine their understanding as indicated
C2.5 Monitoring of Understanding: Making Connections
connect, compare, and contrast the ideas expressed in texts and their knowledges and lived experiences, the ideas in other texts, and the world around them
C3. Critical Thinking in Literacy
C3.2 Making Inferences
make local and global inferences, using explicit and implicit evidence, to explain and support their interpretations about various complex texts
C3.5 Perspectives within Texts
analyze explicit and implicit perspectives communicated in various texts, evaluate any evidence that could show bias in these perspectives, and suggest ways to avoid any such bias
Strand D: Composition (Expressing Ideas and Creating Texts)
D2. Creating Texts
D1.2 Developing Ideas
generate and develop ideas and details about challenging topics, such as topics related to diversity, equity, and inclusion and to other subject areas, using a variety of strategies, and drawing on various resources, including their own lived experiences
D1.4 Organizing Content
classify and sequence ideas and collected information, selecting effective strategies and tools, and identify and organize relevant content, evaluating the choices of text form, genre, and medium, and considering alternatives
D2 Creating Texts
D2.1 Producing Drafts
draft complex texts of various forms and genres, including narrative, persuasive, expository, and informational texts, citing sources, and use a variety of appropriate media, tools, and strategies to transform information and communicate ideas
A situation where it is not obvious which choice is right or wrong.