Timing: 40 minutes
Learning outcomes: learners will be able to…
- Explore aspects of their personality.
- Consider emotional regulation strategies to shape responses to cyberbullying.
Key vocabulary: cyberbullying, emotions, personality, regulation, strategies, best self.
Resources: Google Slides, plain paper
Key questions:
- How would you describe yourself (your personality)?
- Do you behave differently when you feel…
- …angry? How?
- …upset? How?
- …excited? How?
- …happy? How?
- What do you think is your ‘best self’?
- How would they behave?
- What would they think?
- What would they say?
- How would your ‘best self’ behave if you…
- …saw a friend being bullied online?
- …saw a stranger being bullied online?
- …were being bullied online?
- …were tempted to bully someone online?
PLEASE READ THESE DOCUMENT BEFORE STARTING THE ACTIVITY
NOTE: This activity links with the activity ‘R3 – Take a meta-moment’. It is advisable to complete this activity first.
Starter activity (5 minutes)
Describe yourself
Ask all learners to think about their personality. Would they describe themselves as kind? Responsible? If they had to narrow their whole personality down to 10 key words, what words would they use? Encourage learners to consider positive, negative and neutral aspects of their personality.
If learners find this difficult, this list provides lots of useful vocabulary.
If they feel comfortable to do so, encourage learners to share their lists and ask other learners if they agree. It can be interesting to see how others’ perspectives of a person vary compared to a person’s own perception of how they behave!
Activity (30 minutes)
Explain to learners that, in difficult situations that create strong emotional responses, we don’t always behave in ways that reflect our personality. This can lead to choices that negatively affect us and other people, as well as lead to feelings such as regret or guilt.
Provide each learner with a piece of paper and ask them to draw a quick picture of themselves (a full-body drawing) in the centre of the page. They should then label different parts of the body to explain how their ‘best self’ would behave when faced with a difficult situation online (e.g. being targeted by bullying, seeing a best friend being bullied, seeing something online that upsets you, etc.).
An example is provided on slide 5, but learners are free to label their body however they wish. They may wish to include multiple labels for specific parts of the body (e.g. mouth) if they wish.
When completed, ask learners to share their ‘best self’ strategies and discuss them.
Show the four examples on slide 6:
- How would your ‘best self’ behave if you…
- …saw a friend being bullied online?
- …saw a stranger being bullied online?
- …were being bullied online?
- …were tempted to bully someone online?
Ask learners to work in pairs to explain what their best self would say and do in each of the situations. Encourage learners to add more detail to each example, e.g. a friend is being bullied through nasty comments on their social media feed, you are being constantly excluded from an online gaming group, etc.).
As a whole group, ask learners to share their strategies for the different scenarios and discuss when and where aspects of their best self are most appropriate. For example, knowing when to walk away from a conflict situation online may protect you or others, but it probably won’t help resolve the issue. Therefore, other aspects of your best self are required to manage the situation fully.
Plenary (5 minutes)
Explain to learners that it is important to understand how to become your best self online in order to keep yourself and others safe. However, in difficult situations where emotions are running high, this isn’t always easy!
If you are planning to run the activity ‘Take a meta-moment’, explain to learners that they will be exploring strategies for regulating their emotions in a future activity, and this can be combined with their best self to develop a positive response to dealing with cyberbullying.