This document outlines topics to educate primary students about social media use and implications, including media balance and wellbeing, privacy and security, digital footprint and identity, relationships and communication, and cyberbullying. Strategies are proposed such as teaching media balance, identifying suspicious online activity, understanding digital footprints, practicing safe online interactions, and addressing cyberbullying. The presentation recommends the Common Sense education website for related lesson plans and resources.

1. EDUCATING PRIMARY
STUDENTS ABOUT SOCIAL
MEDIA
BY BRADY TROTMAN

2. TOPICS TO BE COVERED IN THIS
PRESENTATION
1.Media balance and wellbeing
2.Privacy and security
3.Digital footprint and identity
4.Relationships and communication
5.Cyber bullying, digital drama and hate speech

3. TEACHING STUDENTS ABOUT THE
IMPLICATIONS OF SOCIAL MEDIA.
Students will inevitably learn about social media and
the implications that come with it either…
through their
own
exploration,
or in a safe
learning
environment like
school.

4. TOPIC 1. MEDIA BALANCE AND WELLBEING
Today’s society is surrounded by and in some
cases, heavily dependent on digital media and
technology. We all have access to endless
amounts of information and different social
media platforms. Social media provides great
learning and social opportunities but also
comes with risks and can potentially harm our
mental and physical health. As social media is
more prevalent now than ever and is going to
be even more so in the future, it is important
we teach students from an early age of social
media safe practice and educate students of
the risks that are associated with social media.

5. Research has shown children and adolescents
are at risk various mental and physical health
issues when navigating with social media due
to having a limited capacity for self-regulation
and susceptibility to peer pressure (O'Keeffe et
al, 2011). Children and adolescents using
social media in an unsafe way are at risk of
internet addiction and sleep deprivation and
even depression (O'Keeffe et al, 2011).
Education and promotion of ‘media balance’ is
vital in combating against these risks and in
helping students to engage with media safely.
Topic 1
Media balance
and Wellbeing

6. Engaging with social media can trigger different
feelings and emotions for not only the user but the
people surrounded by the user in different ways
(Common sense education, 2022) for example;
- What you watch can either positively or negatively
affect your feelings and emotions depending on the
content.
- Viewing social media at particular times of the day
can have an affect on people trying to connect with
you in real life
- The amount of time students spend on social
media can affect their real life social skills, lead to
addition, cause unproductivity, cause sleep
deprivation and more.
Topic 1
Media balance
and Wellbeing

7. STRATEGIES TO COMBAT THE
NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF
OVERUSING SOCIAL MEDIA.
Educated students about the importance of
media balance for example, participant in a
healthy amount of media-based
conversation as well as real life conversation.
Develop individual plans for healthy media
balance
Educating students about how the effects of
excessive media to not only them but the
people around them and society as a whole.
Topic 1
Media balance
and Wellbeing
‘Common sense education’ is a great
resource that provides lesson plans
information and strategies around media
balance and wellbeing. Scan the QR code to
visit the website.

8. TOPIC 2. PRIVACY AND SECURITY
Due to the nature of our society evolving
technologically, social media use is becoming more
prevalent in younger people (Technology and Young
Children In The Digital Age, 2022). Younger people
are communicating and sharing more information via
social media which can lead to safety risks. Students
that are uneducated or unaware of the dangers
associated with sharing private information online are
in danger of potentially harmful consequences
including identity theft, leaked address information,
child grooming and more. Educating students about
what is appropriate to share online is pivotal in
ensuring that they are engaging with social media
safely. Educating students about the difference
between ‘private’ and ‘personal’ information and why
we do or why we don’t share certain information also

9. Topic 2
Privacy and
security
Scammers, fake accounts and hacked accounts are becoming more
prominent online with the intention of attaining people’s private
information for their own benefit for example, Scammers will often
gain the users trust to lure them into sending social media passwords,
bank details or nude images etc. This information or content is often
used as blackmail and threatened to be leaked if ‘x’ amount of money
is not sent to the scammer or fake account. Educating students around
ways to identify these accounts can help prevent students falling
victim to an online attack.

10. STRATEGIES TO PROTECT STUDENT’S
PRIVACY AND SECURITY CAN BE DONE
THROUGH EXPOSING STUDENTS TO
EXAMPLES OF SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY,
FOR EXAMPLE:
• Sense of urgency: When the sender says you only have a limited time to
respond.
• Spelling and grammar errors: A real company does not send out
messages with such errors.
• Alert! Alert!: The message sounds urgent, making you worry that
something is wrong with
your account.
• "Friend" in trouble: You see a photo of someone you know, but the
message isn't really
from them.
• Shortened URL: A web address that has been condensed and that could
mislead a user into going into a risky website.
• Too good to be true: Identity thieves often offer easy chances to win free
money or prizes.
• Generic or missing greeting: Real companies send messages that address
Topic 2
Privacy and
security
Scan me to see helpful
resources around
privacy and security!

11. TOPIC 3. DIGITAL FOOTPRINT AND
IDENTITY
• Digital footprint and identity is a topic that plays an
important role in student’s lives as it can have either
a positive or negative impact on their lives for as
long as they live. Uploading anything to social media
will create a lifelong digital footprint, in turn
affecting their reputation and the way people
perceive the user. Student’s digital footprint can
affect their chances of being accepted into schools,
universities and can even affect their employability.
No one is entirely in control of their digital footprint
as other people have the ability to post images or
comments about us which can also affect our digital
footprint.

12. Research has shown that children don’t
have the cognitive development to
understand the longevity of what is put
online (Rachel et al. (2016). Research has
also shown that children are more at risk
of lacking an understanding of their
actions, security, privacy and settings
breaches, abuse, predators and cyber
bullying (Rachel et al. (2016).
Topic 3
Digital footprint

13. STRATEGIES TO COMBAT
AGAINST CREATING
NEGATIVE DIGITAL
FOOTPRINTS
Showing students real life scenarios of people that
have had serious repercussions due to their digital
footprint such as loss of employment, being exposed
and shamed on news reports etc.
Topic 3
Digital footprint Scan me to see helpful
resources around digital
footprints!

14. Although social media platforms are
great resources that allow us to
communicate and build relationships
with others online, there are also
dangers associated with online
communication. 1 in 10 children has
been asked to upload intimate photos
or videos of themselves on the
Internet. A 300% increase in Internet-
initiated rape cases was recorded in
the country between 2010 and 2015
Dorasamy et al, (2021).
TOPIC 4. RELATIONSHIPS AND
COMMUNICATION

15. STRATEGIES THAT CAN BE
IMPLEMENTED IN THE
CLASSROOM.
Providing students with real life
examples of both safe online
interactions and unsafe online
interactions is a good way to have
students practice identifying
predators and risky behaviour online.
This can help students understand
unsafe online interactions and the
potential repercussions of
participating in these interactions.
Topic 4
Relationships
and
communication
Common sense Education
(2022)

16. TOPIC 5. CYBER BULLYING, DIGITAL DRAMA
AND HATE SPEECH
Although there are many online dangers
from anonymous accounts such as
computer bots, hackers and predators,
online dangers such as cyberbullying,
digital drama and hate speech are often
initiated by either ourselves or people we
know. A study comprised of 60
adolescents had shown 90% of
participants had reported to have
experienced cyberbullying either as a
victim or as a bystander (Notar et al.,

17. STRATEGIES THAT CAN BE
IMPLEMENTED IN THE
CLASSROOM.
Exposing students to specific examples of cyberbullying, digital drama and hate
speech can assist students in identifying these acts. Developing students
understanding of the impact these acts have and the potential repercussions of
committing these acts is also important.
Reducing online dangers such as cyberbullying and hate speech can be done
through educating students around strategies to safely participate in online
activity. Strategies such as:
- Identifying how to avoid intentionally or unintentionally committing cyberbullying
acts or hate speech.
- Distinguishing hurtful language and exploring ways to respond to it.
- Establishing an understanding for different cultures, empathy and respect
towards others online
Topic 5
Cyber bullying,
digital drama
and Hate
speech.

18. IMPLEMENTATI
ON
Common sense
education is a free
website that
provides
educational
resources on each
of the topics
covered within
this presentation
and more.
Common sense
provides entire
lesson plans
suitable for
(Canva, 2022)