Program Description
Pause Before You Post is a practical social media and online safety program that teaches students how to recognize manipulation, protect personal information, verify identities, respond to unsafe situations, and ask for help without fear or embarrassment.
Students will learn that:
• A profile photograph does not prove who is behind an account.
• A familiar account may have been hacked.
• A photograph, video, or voice recording may have been copied, edited, or created with artificial intelligence.
• Someone may use a friend’s photograph or account to ask seemingly harmless questions.
• Small pieces of information can be combined to identify a child’s school, home, schedule, family members, activities, and location.
• Unsafe people do not always behave like obvious strangers.
• Children should pay attention to unsafe behavior, even when the person appears to be someone they know.
• Making a mistake online is never a reason to hide. Students should immediately seek help from a trusted adult.
Standard Class Format
• 5 minutes: Safety question or warm-up
• 10 minutes: Direct instruction
• 15 minutes: Teacher-led demonstration
• 20 minutes: Scenario lab or role-play
• 5 minutes: Class discussion
• 5 minutes: Exit ticket
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The PAUSE Safety Method
Students use the same five-step process throughout the program.
P — Pause
Do not immediately answer, click, send, pay, meet, or react.
A — Ask
What does this person want from me? Are they creating urgency, fear, secrecy, guilt, excitement, or pressure?
U — Use Another Way to Verify
Call the person, speak to them in person, contact a parent, or use a previously known phone number. Never use the contact information provided in the suspicious message.
S — Share Nothing Private
Do not share passwords, verification codes, addresses, schedules, locations, school information, private photographs, family information, or information about friends.
E — Exit and Explain
Leave the conversation, save appropriate evidence, block or report the account, and explain what happened to a trusted adult.
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Program Learning Objectives
By the end of the program, students will be able to:
1. Explain why a photograph, video, voice, or profile is not proof of identity.
2. Recognize fake, copied, impersonated, and hacked accounts.
3. Identify personal information hidden inside ordinary conversations and photographs.
4. Verify a person through a separate communication channel.
5. Recognize phishing, fake emergencies, prizes, pressure, secrecy, and emotional manipulation.
6. Respond safely when someone requests private information or images.
7. Protect their accounts with strong passwords, multifactor authentication, and privacy settings.
8. Obtain permission before posting another person’s image or information.
9. Respond appropriately to cyberbullying, impersonation, and harmful content.
10. Report an unsafe situation and seek help without blaming themselves.
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