You already know social media can be great one day and hard the next. Today you will sort some made-up situations into opportunities, which are good things social media can bring, and risks, which are ways it can cause harm. Then you will work out how to keep the good and cut down the harm, using your class charter, which is the set of rules your class agreed.
Use these words to talk about social media.
- Opportunities include connection, learning, creativity and voice (having your say).
- Risks include pressure, privacy, misinformation (false or misleading information) and harm to wellbeing.
Some situations are clearly good or bad. Others could go either way, so they are in a grey area and worth discussing.
Your class will do this activity together on the board. For each made-up situation, help decide whether it mainly shows an opportunity, a risk, or Depends / grey area for someone your age. Your teacher will ask you why, so be ready to give a reason.
When you give your reason, use these words.
- Opportunities include connection, learning, creativity and voice.
- Risks include pressure, problems with privacy, misinformation and harm to wellbeing.
You can move a situation to another group after hearing someone else's reason.
Opportunity or risk?
Work with a partner to find ways to keep the good side of social media while reducing the risks.
- Pick one situation from the Opportunity side and one from the Risk side, using the list below. If a situation ended up in Depends / grey area, decide with your partner which side it leans towards.
- For the opportunity, name one habit that protects the good part, such as staying in the club chat without sharing your home address.
- For the risk, name one simple thing you can do to reduce the harm, such as turning off notifications after a set time, refusing to forward a private photo, or checking a claim before you share it.
- Look at your class charter or the rules on the board. Find at least one rule that already covers your habit or your action. If nothing fits, write one short rule the class could add later.
- Be ready to tell the class one thing you would keep and one thing you would cut.
You post original artwork and get constructive feedback from other young makers.
A moderated club chat connects you with young people who play the same sport.
A group chat helps organise a fundraiser that relatives abroad can support.
You feel you must reply instantly or friends will think you are ignoring them.
A private photo of a student is forwarded to people they never agreed could see it.
A dramatic health claim spreads through your year group chat with no checkable source.
Check you have one opportunity to protect, one risk to reduce, and one rule from the charter that fits your ideas.
Social media offers real opportunities for connection, learning, creativity and voice. It also brings real risks to do with pressure, privacy, misinformation and wellbeing. Seeing both sides means you do not have to cheer for it or panic about it.
The useful thing is to be practical. Name the good you want to keep and the risk you want to reduce. Then use your class charter to turn that into habits you can really stick to.
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