Digital Citizenship and Online Safety is a free course that helps young people use the internet safely, wisely and kindly. This online safety for students course covers protecting personal information, creating strong passwords, managing privacy and your digital footprint, handling cyberbullying, spotting scams and misinformation, building healthy screen habits and communicating respectfully.
Students today learn, play and connect online every day. Most of those experiences are positive, but the internet also brings real risks, from scams and hacked accounts to unkind messages and misleading information. This course gives learners practical, realistic skills they can use straight away, without trying to scare them. Every lesson includes real-life scenarios, clear steps to follow and a practice activity with answers.
What you will learn
- Decide what personal information is safe to share online
- Create strong passphrases and use two-step verification
- Manage privacy settings and think about your digital footprint
- Recognise, respond to and report cyberbullying, and act as an upstander
- Spot phishing scams, fake news and manipulated images
- Build healthy screen habits and communicate respectfully online
Who this course is for
This course is for students in Grades 6 to 8 (about ages 11 to 14), whether they are just starting to use email, games and apps or already active online. It is also useful for parents and teachers who want a shared language for talking about online life.
A note for parents and teachers
Many social media platforms require users to be at least 13 years old, and some apps have higher age limits; check the terms of any app before your child signs up. The most important message in this course is that young people should always be able to tell a trusted adult when something online worries them, without fear of automatically losing their devices. Please talk through the lessons together and agree on family or classroom rules. If a child is ever at risk of harm, contact the platform, the school and, where appropriate, the police.
How the course works
There are eight lessons of about fifteen minutes each. The final lesson helps students write a personal digital citizenship pledge.