Lesson Sequence

Class Discussion

Engage students in a discussion about what they know about apps like Snapchat.

Without passing out any of the reference page information, use the board to list or have students individually write down, benefits to having this type of application on a mobile device.

Activity

Students will use their lists from the class discussion and the following examples, compiled from advertisements and articles exploring the benefits of Snapchat, to explore the real values of these applications.

• A quick and easy way to engage in real-time or spontaneous photo sharing with a friend or group of friends
• Send funny, embarrassing, or sexually explicit photos of oneself, without worry that the photos will last
• Allows for more openness than other social media platforms because the images are gone after a few seconds
• On Snapchat, connect and collect points with your friends
• Friends from Facebook or the user’s address book can be easily added as recipients

Pass out copies of the reference page or provide the information on the board or Smart Board.

Go over the information and lead into the activity: Students use what they have learned to identify and chart potential risks to using these types of applications.

Go over the completed charts to review and reinforce the privacy issues inherent to these apps.

Wrap-Up

It’s not enough to know about safety and privacy concerns associated with sexting. Be aware that just telling students to avoid getting involved in sexting will not be a very effective deterrent.

Discuss the safety issues and have students create advice for others on how to deal with sexting.

Engage students in an activity to discuss how to deal with the issue of sexting. Use the following prompts:

• What would they do if they received a sext message?
• What are the potential problems for a person who gets involved in a sexting relationship?

Sample Student Response:

If a sext message is received:

• Do not copy or forward the message to anyone else.
• It is best to report any nude pictures you receive on your cell phone to an adult you trust. Do not delete the message. Instead, get your parents or guardians, teachers, and school counselors involved immediately. This is especially important if the intent of the message is to bully or harass, if the message is from an adult, or if the message is sent by someone who is not a close friend.
• If this occurs with a close friend let the sender know that it’s inappropriate and/or let the sender know that you don’t participate in sexting.

Potential problems with engagement in sexting:

• Images go viral and may be found online for years to come (affects online identity negatively). Note: A 2012 study by the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) showed that 88% of the self-generated, sexually explicit online images and videos of the young people their analysts encountered had been taken from their original location and uploaded onto other “parasite” Web sites. These parasite Web sites had often been created for the sole purpose of offering sexually explicit images and videos of young people.
• When the relationship is over, participants can be humiliated and even bullied.

How to Help Teens Deal With Sexting:

• Think about the consequences of taking, sending, or forwarding a sexy picture of yourself or someone else underage. How might the action affect your reputation? You could get kicked off of sports teams, face humiliation, lose educational opportunities, and even get in trouble with the law.
• Never take images of yourself that you wouldn’t want everyone—your classmates, your teachers, your family, or your employers—to see.
• Before hitting send, remember that you cannot control where this image may travel. What you send to a boyfriend or girlfriend easily could end up with their friends, and their friends, and their friends.
• If you forward a nude picture of someone underage, you are as responsible for this image as the original sender. Under the law, you could face child pornography charges, go to jail, and have to register as a sex offender.
• Report any nude pictures you receive on your cell phone to an adult you trust. Do not delete the message. Instead, get your parents or guardians, teachers, and school counselors involved immediately.

Empowerment

iDrive is the Youth Outreach and Empowerment program of ISAFE. Students under the age of 13 can participate in iDrive initiatives given that the teacher registers as the representative of their students under the minimum age requirement. As iDrive Agents in Training, students in grade 7 engage in project-based learning activities to share with other classrooms that are part 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 and presentations.

Teachers: Send images of student work to teachers@isafe.org.