CyberShield Kids • Module 4 • Lesson 4.3
What to Do if Someone Is Mean
In this lesson, students learn safe steps to take when someone is mean, hurtful, or disrespectful online. Students will practice pausing, stepping away, not joining in, and asking trusted adults for help.
What You Will Learn
By the end of this lesson, students should be able to:
Safety Reminder
Students should not handle hurtful situations alone.
If online messages, comments, screenshots, group chats, or games feel mean, scary, confusing, embarrassing, or unsafe, students should ask a trusted adult for help. Practice examples should stay fake and classroom safe.
Simple Explanation
Mean behavior online is still real behavior.
Hurtful words, screenshots, jokes, comments, and game messages can affect real people. When someone is mean online, students do not need to fight back or solve it alone. A safer choice is to pause, step away, avoid joining in, and ask a trusted adult for help.
Key Vocabulary
Words to know
Mean online behavior
Messages, comments, posts, screenshots, or game chats that hurt, embarrass, scare, or disrespect someone.
Step away
Stop replying, close the chat, leave the game, or take a break instead of making the problem bigger.
Trusted adult
A parent, guardian, teacher, counselor, coach, librarian, or school technology staff member who can help.
Report
Using a tool in an app, game, or website to ask for help with unsafe behavior. Younger students should ask a trusted adult to help with this.
Safe and Unsafe Examples
Practice safer responses.
These examples are fake and safe for learning. Students should not use real names, real screenshots, real private messages, or real conflicts in practice activities.
Safer choice
A student receives a mean message, does not reply with mean words, and tells a trusted adult.
Unsafe choice
A student sends more hurtful messages back because they feel angry.
Safer choice
A student sees someone being teased in a group chat, does not join in, and asks a teacher for help.
Think About It
Why is fighting back online risky?
Replying with more mean words can make a problem bigger and hurt more people. Students can make safer choices by pausing, stepping away, and asking a trusted adult for help instead of joining the hurtful behavior.
Discussion Question
What is one safe thing you can do if someone sends a hurtful message?
What To Do In Real Life
Use the pause-step-away-ask habit.
Mini Practice
What is the safer response?
Read each situation and think about the safest answer. These practice questions use fake examples only.
Practice 1
Someone sends you a mean message in a game chat. What should you do first?
Safer answer
Pause and do not reply with mean words. Step away and tell a trusted adult if it feels hurtful or unsafe.
Practice 2
A group chat is making fun of another student. What is the safer choice?
Safer answer
Do not join in. Step away from the mean behavior and ask a trusted adult for help.
Practice 3
You feel angry and want to send a hurtful reply. What should you do?
Safer answer
Do not send the hurtful reply. Take a break, pause, and ask a trusted adult if you need help.
Practice 4
Someone shares a private screenshot to embarrass another person. What should you do?
Safer answer
Do not share it again. Do not join the teasing. Tell a trusted adult because private messages should not be used to embarrass people.
Review Checklist
Before moving to Lesson 4.4, students should be able to say:
Lesson Navigation
Continue the Kind and Safe Technology Use module.
Next, students will learn how to be digital helpers without joining drama, arguments, or unsafe conversations.