Lesson Sequence

Explain to students that, in this lesson, they will explore the positive and negative aspects of video challenges that circulate on social media.

Read the REFERENCE PAGE to the class, or distribute the REFERENCE PAGE and tell students to read individually or in groups.

Arrange students in teams of 3-4. One student is to become the scribe and will need a paper and pencil or pen.

Activity 1: How Many Video Challenges Can You Recall?

Present students with their first challenge:

Your mission is to collaborate with team members to list as many YouTube video challenges as you can think of in 60 seconds. Ready… set… go!

Determine which team has listed the greatest number of YouTube challenges.

Ask teams to share the video challenge list with the class.

Compile the names of the challenges on the board and review the list.

Invite students to explain some of the challenges that they have contributed to the compiled list.

Ask the students to share their answers to the following questions:

• How is the example from the scene in “A Christmas Story” similar to the video challenges that you see on social media?
• Have you or a friend ever participated in a video challenge? Which one(s)? What happened?

Activity 2: What’s the Verdict?

Distribute the STUDENT HANDOUT: VIDEO CHALLENGE PROFILES

Draw a horizontal line that runs across the board, but remains below the compiled list of challenges which the students have provided. Label the left end of the line helpful; the right end of the line harmful, and mark the center of the line as harmless. Students will indicate where particular video challenges fall on this spectrum by writing the name of the challenge on a Post-It Note and positioning the note along the correlating spot on the line.

Provide students with information on viral video challenges from the article: Would You Accept this Challenge? Using the handout to organize their notes, students identify the purpose of the challenge, setup and activities, end results, and medical concerns mentioned in the article. In the section labeled “verdict”, students write their conclusion –whether the challenge is helpful, harmless, or harmful.

Present students with information in the article: A Video Challenge for a Cause. Students write their notes on the handout and determined the verdict of the Ice Bucket Challenge.

Tell students to write the name of each challenge on a Post-It Note and place the note along the horizontal line to indicate where they think the challenge falls along the spectrum: helpful, harmless, or harmful.

Invite students to explain their reasoning.

Wrap-Up

Wrap-Up: Class Discussion

Discuss the Think About It questions:

Why do you suppose people participate in potentially harmful social media challenges?

Sample Student Response:

• sense of belonging or shared experience
• attention-seeking behavior
• social media pressure
• quest for internet fame
• entertaining
• curiosity
• boredom
• support for an idea or a cause

How might you discourage peers from participating in harmful or negative social media challenges?

Sample Student Response:

• Provide information about the end-results of the activity
• Show them examples of what other participants have experienced.
• Use logic and reasoning to talk them out of their decision.
• Write a persuasive article or blog stating the undesirable side-effects of a particular social media or video challenge.
• Encourage peers to find other sources of entertainment.

Activity Extension: Refer to the social media/ video challenges that the students mentioned in Activity 1. Invite students place a Post-it Note along the horizontal line to indicate whether the challenge is helpful, harmless or harmful.

Invite students to describe a “helpful” video challenge, and to share examples.

Discuss Think About It Questions from the article A Video Challenge for a Cause.

What are the factors that led to the success of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge?

Sample Student Response:

• The cause was meaningful to friends and family members who suffered from the disease
• The activities were easy to duplicate
• The video was easy to share
• Professional Athletes were involved which gave the challenge more publicity
• As the video became a social media trend, more people started to participate

How might you use social media to start your own video challenge for a cause?

This is a big question that leads into the Empowerment Activity: Creating a Video Campaign for a Cause.

Empowerment

Youth Empowerment: Leave Your Mark

iDrive is a Youth Outreach and Empowerment program of ISAFE. Students age 13+ can register as an iDrive Agent and participate in number of campaigns and initiatives. As iDrive Agents, students in grades 8-12 engage in project-based learning activities to share with other students who are members of the ISAFE community. By providing students with an authentic audience, they gain a greater sense of purpose for their digital citizenship and e-Safety projects.

Direct students to register as iDrive Agents at www.idrivetvonline.com

Empowerment Activities

Group Project

Your mission is to come up with a video challenge for a cause or issue that matters to you.

1. Register as an Agent for positive change at www.idrivetvonline.com
2. Download the Student Toolkit.
3. Complete the Get Things Started and Take Action worksheets.
4. Register as an agent and pitch your video campaign at http://www.idrivetvonline.com/get-involved/become-an-agent/ .
5. Present your video challenge to the class.

Write It Out

Write a 600-900 word article that:

• Discourages peers from joining in on a trending video challenge that poses potential harm to participants or promotes a negative cause (prejudice, self-harm, violence)
• Encourage peers to use common sense when choosing to participate in a video challenge
• Give advice on how to use video challenges for the greater good
• OR Write an article on a cause or initiative. Use the article to raise awareness and support for your video challenge

Empowerment Activity 1: Op-Ed Article

Write an op-ed article for the iDrive community newsletter on the topic of viral social media challenges. Suggested topics include:

• Discourage peers from joining in on a trending video challenge that poses potential harm to participants or promotes a negative cause (prejudice, self-harm, violence)
• Encourage peers to use common sense when choosing to participate in a video challenge
• Give advice on how to use video challenges for the greater good
• Write an article on a cause or initiative. Use the article to raise awareness and support for your video challenge

As a guest writer for ISAFE, students have an opportunity to build a positive digital footprint which will benefit
them in their college and career endeavors. This article may be selected as a feature piece for the ISAFE blog or
newsletter that reaches millions of students in school districts across the nation.

Empowerment Activity 2: Video Challenge for a Cause

What issue or cause matters to you?

Work with team members to create a video challenge linked to a cause or charity, or to raise awareness of a societal or global issue. Submit your campaign to iDRIVE to publicize your cause in a monthly newsletter and on social media. Follow @idrive_live on Instagram and DM us your videos.