Trial resource - not yet verified for classroom use. This is a starting point to help you build your own lesson, not a finished or approved plan. Cyber Safe with Monkleton is new, and we are shaping this with teachers - please adapt it freely, use what works, and tell us what doesn't so we can improve it. Once it has been shaped and checked with teachers, we will mark it verified. Feedback: cybersafe-feedback@monkleton.io.
People online can be anyone
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This is a starting point, not a script - take what is useful, change what is not, and shape it around your class. It brings a Cyber Safe with Monkleton lesson into the classroom: the behaviour, not just the rule.
The big idea
Online, anyone can claim anything - a name, an age, a friendly manner. The safe habit is to judge people by what they ask you to do, and to remember that no one who is really on your side needs your login.
Learning intentions (adapt to your class)
- I can explain that people online are not always who they say.
- I know that nobody legitimate needs my password or login.
- I know I can say no, and tell a trusted adult.
A suggested shape
Starter (about 5 minutes)
A new online teammate says "I'm exactly your age". Ask the class: "how would we actually know?" Draw out that it is just words on a screen.
Explore (about 15 minutes)
The teammate offers to "level up your account" - they just need your login. As a class, work out why that is the trick. Introduce the test: "what do I actually know about this person?" (usually the honest answer is: nothing).
Practise (about 10 minutes)
Pupils practise responding to a request for a login or a code - a simple "no", with no need to explain themselves.
Safe Check plenary (about 10 minutes)
Pupils state the rule: keep your login yours; no real friend needs it; and if someone keeps pushing, block them and tell a trusted adult.
Ready-to-use resources
- Background for you: our guide How can I tell if someone online is who they say they are? gives the adult version.
- Teacher note: this lesson keeps deliberately to account safety - not meeting people or sharing photos. For any wider worry about who a child is talking to, follow your school's safeguarding policy.
In the app
This lesson pairs with an in-app quest in Cyber Safe with Monkleton, so classroom time and screen time reinforce the same habits. The app is in its first previews now, and supporting media is coming soon. Until then, the discussion and activities here stand on their own.
Tell us how it went
This is a trial, and your classroom experience is exactly what will make it better. If you use it, we would love to know what worked and what you changed - email cybersafe-feedback@monkleton.io.
Trial guidance, shared early for teacher feedback - please adapt it before any classroom use, and let us know how it went. Product names are used only to describe their features; Monkleton Labs is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, them. No ads, no affiliate links.