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���˿��� Teach > Primary Resources > Online safety > Online bullying

Video summary

A scenario where a spoken word artist experiences someone catfishing her as a friend to try to scam her.

Top tips and advice on how to deal with trolls and scammers.

Online scams are ways for people to trick you on the internet and make you do something you wouldn't want to do. They might want money, your personal information, your friends’ personal information or even to meet you in real life.

It’s quite easy to pretend to be someone else online, so how do we spot trolls and scams?

One way is to only speak to people you know online and to ensure that your accounts are set to private, so that it's harder for strangers to find out information about you.

If you receive a dodgy message or text from someone you know and it doesn't quite seem right, make sure you ask some questions to see if they’re really who they say they are. And remember to never send money or private information to anyone online.

If something feels wrong, trust your instincts and let a trusted adult know about it, so they can help you deal with it.

Video: 1 mins 44 secs
Article: 2 min read

Learning objectives

(from the set out by the UK Council for Internet Safety)

• ‘I can explain that others online can pretend to be someone else, including my friends, and suggest reasons they might do this’

Glossary

• Catfish: someone who pretends to be someone else online
• Fake: not real
• Scam: a dishonest scheme
• Identity: a set of qualities that make a person who they are
• Positive: A force for good
• Negative: A force for bad

Topic introductions and starters

Before the video:

• Ask pupils to write down three things they know or have heard about to do with online fakes - share with a partner and then whole class

After the video:

• Check pupils’ understanding of the key vocabulary – catfish, fake, scam, identity, positive, negative
• In pairs, write simple one sentence ‘dictionary’ definitions of key vocabulary – share with class, and decide on the best version
• Watch the video together once initially and share their thoughts about what they feel about the poem/performance
• Watch again and pause after each section - write notes about what is being communicated
• Summarise the key points, tips and suggestions that Annie shares in the poem - are some more important than others?

Discussion Points

• Have you ever suspected that someone you met online was a fake? What made you think that? What did you do? Did you tell anyone?

• Would you have believed it was Teddy? Do you think Annie was too suspicious? Would you have asked the same questions asher?

• What would you say to someone who told you they were going to pretend to be someone else? Why are they doing it? Are they lonely or insecure? Are they doing it for a joke/to try to be funny? Are they being pressured by someone else?

Fillers and fast finisher activities

• Take screenshots of the video and create a presentation with speech bubbles to be used offline
• Write a poem from fake-Teddy’s point of view
• Write a bullet-point list of strategies that Annie mentioned in the poem
• Create acrostic poems using words like ‘FAKE’ or ‘SCAM’ to give the first letters of each line

Signposting potential homework activities

• Share the video with family members and see what they think
• Write your own poem about a similar issue to perform to class - limit the number of lines
• Practice performing the poem to family members to develop confidence in performance poetry
• Write a poem about staying safe online for much younger children with illustrations

If your students need support

You should always tell someone about the things you’re worried about. You can tell a friend, parent, guardian, teacher, or another trusted adult. If you're struggling with your mental health, going to your GP can be a good place to start to find help. Your GP can let you know what support is available to you, suggest different types of treatment and offer regular check-ups to see how you’re doing.

If you’re in need of in-the-moment support you can contact , where you can speak to a counsellor. Their lines are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

More on: Managing online information