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Safe and unsafe online actions

Lesson details

Learning outcome

I can understand how online actions can affect safety.

Key learning points

  1. Online actions can be safe or unsafe.
  2. Sharing private information is an unsafe action.
  3. Safe choices help protect personal information.

Keywords

  • Action - something a person does

  • Safe - not likely to cause harm or danger

  • Risk - the chance something harmful or unwanted could happen

Common misconception

Only strangers can cause problems online.

Unsafe situations can happen even when using familiar apps or talking to people you know.

Teacher tip

A key point in this lesson is understanding consequences. Encourage pupils to explain what might happen after an unsafe action, rather than just labelling it as unsafe.

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2026), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0
except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions
(Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Prior knowledge starter quiz

4 Questions

Q1.
Which piece of information can identify a person?

favourite colour
Correct answer: full name
favourite animal
favourite sport

Q2.
Why can sharing personal information online increase risk?

because it makes your profile more colourful
because it makes you more popular
Correct answer: because many people may be able to see it

Q3.
Which combination of information is most likely to identify someone?

favourite colour and favourite animal
first name and favourite sport
Correct answer: first name and home town
favourite subject and favourite food

Q4.
Which statement is correct?

If information is true, it is always safe to share online.
Correct answer: Information can be true and still unsafe to share online.
Only home addresses need to be kept private.
Posting online is always safe.

4 Questions

Q1.
Which action could be considered unsafe?

reading information on a school website
posting your favourite animal
Correct answer: clicking on a link from someone you don't know
sending homework to your teacher using the school learning platform

Q2.
Which statement is correct?

Unsafe situations only happen when talking to strangers.
Unsafe situations can only happen on unknown websites.
Correct answer: Unsafe situations can happen even on familiar apps or with people you know.
Unsafe situations only happen when sharing your personal information.

Q3.
Unsafe actions increase the of something harmful or unwanted happening.

Correct Answer: risk

Q4.
What might happen if someone shares their home address in a public comment?

their profile looks better
Correct answer: other people could find where they live
nothing, because the information is true

To help you plan your 4 digital literacy lesson on: Safe and unsafe online actions, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...