Oh, No! What Now!
What to do when something online worries you.

Purpose

The purpose of this lesson is to show children how to turn off the computer monitor and to encourage them to run for help when they see anything inappropriate online. (This lesson should follow Lesson 1.)

What You Will Need

• Public Service Announcement (www.xyz.com)
• Song: “I Keep Safe”
• Knowledge of where the power button is on the monitor of your home computer.  (Mac users do not have this option; they must either turn their computer off or be prepared with a drape (towel or tablecloth) to throw over the monitor.

Setting

Where possible, have both parents participate in teaching the lesson.  Sit down together in your home’s gathering area.  You will need access to your computer during the lesson.    Turning off phones, televisions, and radios will send a strong message to your children that their safety is of highest importance to you and that you value this family time together.

To boost your confidence, read through all the instructions before you begin.  Remember, you don’t have to be a computer expert to keep you home safe.  Smile and look into your child’s eyes—your lesson will be a hit!

Background for Parents

By the end of this lesson, children should understand that when they run into anything inappropriate on the Internet—someone asking for personal information or offensive content—they should turn off the monitor (not the computer) and run and tell and adult.  Turning the monitor off will shut out the disturbing images or conversation and still allow you to follow up with authorities with evidence that can help stop the problem.
Information in the headers of email, in web addresses, and Instant Messaging windows can help authorities shut down illegal sites (i.e., child pornography) and other Web activities that violate the Terms of Service for most Internet Service Providers.  For explicit directions on how to print screens and where to forward problems, go to:  www.iKeepSafe.org/PRC/LegalCorner

Lesson

Parent: Now that you know the 3 KEEPs of Internet safety, I want to be very clear about exactly what you should do when someone online asks for your personal information or you see something on the computer that makes you sad or worried or uncomfortable in any way.  If you see something on the computer that makes you uncomfortable, first turn off the monitor.

Show where the monitor’s power button is.

Parent: Next, come run and tell me.  Okay, so what do you do?

Coach for: “I turn off the screen and run and tell you.”  

Parent:   What if someone asks for your personal information like your phone number or where you live—what do you do?

Coach for:  “Turn off the screen and run and tell you.” Give praise.

Parent: What if they ask for your soccer team’s name <insert sport of choice>?

“Turn off the screen and run and tell you.”

Parent:   What if they ask for a password, or a picture of you, or my name, or even a park or a public building <insert local landmark> that’s near our home? 

“Turn off the screen, and I run and tell you.”

Parent: Now let’s watch a little video clip together.

Watch the PSA together

Queue up the public service announcement and watch together. 

[Mac users, see note at bottom.]

Ask the following questions:

Parent: Did you see what the boy did when he was feeling worried?

Coach for “Yes, he turned off his screen.”

Parent: Have you ever seen anything on a computer that made you feel the way this boy felt?

Coach for response.  Take this opportunity to listen to your child and assess his/her Internet experience.

Parent: If you’re always ready to turn off your screen, then you’re prepared. Let’s make sure everyone in our family knows how to turn off the screen.

Let everyone take turns turning the screen off and on.

Parent:   Good.  Let’s review the situations where you should turn off the monitor and come find me.  When should you do that?

Take responses; make sure the list includes:

An online stranger asking for personal information: Name, address, phone number, name of my school, a picture of myself, my jersey number, sports teams I play on, instant messenger usernames, email address, passwords.

An online stranger asking about local landmarks: parks, geographical features (rivers, lakes, canyons)—things near our home.

If someone online asks me to meet in person.

Parent: There are a couple of other Internet situations where it’s very important that you turn off the screen and run to tell me:

If you ever see a picture of someone being mean to a child. [Child pornography.] That’s against the law, and it’s a terrible thing to see, so I really need to know if you run into something like that. 

Or, if you see a picture where people aren’t wearing clothes.  We don’t want anything like that on our computer, so turn off the screen and run to me.  I’ll help.

Parent: Some of these things could happen on other people’s computers—away from our home.  If you’re at a friend’s house and you see something that makes you uncomfortable, you turn off the monitor, and then who do you tell? 

Coach for “my friend’s parent”

Parent: Good.  And when you get home, tell me, too, so we can talk about it.

Parent:   If you’re at the library, you turn off the monitor, and who do you tell?

Coach for “the librarian or a teacher, and then I tell you when I get home.”

Parent:   If you are the school’s computer lab you turn off the monitor and who do you tell?

Coach for “the teacher and then I tell you, too, when I get home. ”

Summary

Use the following paragraph or your own to summarize.

Parent:   I’m so glad we all know what to do when we see something online that we didn’t want to see.  I will be very proud of you when you come to tell me that you’ve turned off the screen.  I’ll give you a hug and tell you good and smart you are.  Should we practice?

[Give a hug and tell your child they’re wonderful.] 

Parent:   When you know how to ask for help, that shows me that you’re growing up.  Sometimes I ask for help, too.  I love you.  Thanks for listening.

For a fun ending, play the “I Keep Safe” song, and sing along and dance or jump and clap to the music. 

Adaptations for Older Kids

Have older kids (tweens and teens) prepare this lesson.  Help the older child gather materials and read through the instructions and lesson plan.  Arrange for your teen/tween to present the lesson to a group of younger children: siblings, cousins, neighborhood children, church youth groups, or community youth groups such as Optimists International and the Girls’ and Boys Club will welcome this message, and they will love to hear it from an older kid.

Take this opportunity to tell your child that you also follow these guidelines—keeping your personal information safe and asking for help when you need it.  Explain you are never too old to just turn off the monitor and walk away. 

To emphasize this message watch these two short Public Service Announcements together and discuss what they mean for the safety of your family:

“Tracking Theresa: www.iKeepSafe.org/PRC/Lesson2/TrackingTheresa

“Evidence Bag”: www.iKeepSafe.org/PRC/Lesson2/EvidenceBag

For Mac Users

As Macs do not have a power button on their screen, show your child how to put your Mac into sleep mode by briefly pushing the power button. This will black out the screen but preserve what was open on your desktop.  With this information, you will be able to return to the computer to address their concerns.

To wake your computer from sleep mode, touch any key.

To put a Mac laptop to sleep (MacBook or PowerBook), simply close the lid.  The screen will be restored when you open the lid.

In the script where parents are directed to teach, “Turn off the screen, and tell an adult.”

Tell your child:

“Push the power button, and tell an adult.”

Be clear with children that they should push the button briefly.  If they hold down the power button too long, they will turn the computer completely off and you will lose the desktop.

Let each child take several turns putting the computer into sleep mode, so they feel confident that they know what to do.

Family Fun: Lesson 2 (approx 10 min)