Our goal is to champion the access and privacy rights of Ontario’s children and youth by promoting their digital literacy and the expansion of their digital rights while holding institutions accountable for protecting the children and youth they serve.
The Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario (IPC) has released four new classroom-ready lesson plans to help educators teach students in grades two through eight about privacy rights, digital literacy, and online safety, just in time for back-to-school.
These free lesson plans prepared by MediaSmarts, Canada’s Centre for Digital Media Literacy, in collaboration with the IPC, include privacy principles that every student needs to understand, such as identifying risks, strategies to protect privacy, and respecting others’ privacy.
“Educators play an important role in equipping Ontario’s children and youth with the knowledge and skills to navigate the digital world safely,” said Patricia Kosseim, Ontario’s information and privacy commissioner. “By integrating privacy education into classrooms, we can empower students to protect their personal information, make informed choices, and become responsible digital citizens. Together, we can build a generation that values privacy and embraces the power of informed decision-making in the digital age."
Each lesson plan is designed to be used with the IPC’s Privacy Pursuit! activity booklet, filled with fun activities for learning about privacy. The lesson plans include student handouts that can be printed or completed as a fillable PDF.
“It’s essential to allow children to participate in a digital world, while also supporting them as they navigate through it,” said Matthew Johnson, director of education for MediaSmarts, Canada’s Centre for Digital Media Literacy. “These lesson plans are a valuable resource in teaching children the life and digital media literacy skills they need to exercise their privacy rights online.”
Children and Youth in a Digital World is one of the IPC’s four strategic priorities. Our goal is to champion the access and privacy rights of Ontario’s children and youth by promoting their digital literacy and the expansion of their digital rights while holding institutions accountable for protecting the children and youth they serve.
For more quick tips about privacy geared to children and youth, visit the IPC’s Instagram account.
Additional resources:
Read the IPC’s 2022 annual report to learn more about activities in support of Children and Youth in a Digital World
The IPC provided comments and recommendations to the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services as part of the 2023 5-Year Review of the Child, Youth and Family Services Act, 2017. The IPC’s comments and recommendations are consistent with previous submissions and focus on the goal of strengthening the access and privacy protections afforded to Ontarians under the CYFSA and its regulations.
The IPC has developed four classroom-ready lesson plans to help educators teach students in Grades 2 through 8 about why privacy is important and how to protect their privacy online. Each lesson plan was developed by MediaSmarts for the IPC. They include student handouts that can be printed or completed as a fillable PDF. The lesson plans are designed to be used with the IPC’s Privacy Pursuit! activity booklet, filled with word searches, crossword puzzles, thought-provoking questions and other fun activities for learning about privacy.
In this lesson, students draw connections between their existing concepts of privacy and how it applies to the internet and networked devices. They learn essential vocabulary relating to privacy. They also consider scenarios in which children encounter privacy risks and draw on those to develop a list of “dos” and “don’ts” for using networked devices.
In this lesson, students review what the word “privacy” means in an online context and learn key privacy-related vocabulary. They explore different privacy risks and then learn practical techniques and strategies to manage and protect their privacy. Students then demonstrate their understanding of these strategies by illustrating them. Finally, students revisit material from earlier in the lesson and consider how their actions might put other people’s privacy at risk.
In this lesson, students learn how their personal information is key to how most of the “free” apps and platforms they use make money. They learn practical strategies and tools for managing their privacy and plan how these can be used to limit what audiences have access to their personal information.
Topics covered: Privacy & Security, Ethics, Empathy, Reading Media
In this lesson, students start by considering the permanence of online content. They review privacy strategies and privacy risks and analyze how likely and severe different privacy risks are. They then consider how their actions and decisions can affect others’ privacy and develop a list of “dos” and “don’ts” for managing both their own and others’ privacy.
In Conversation with Stephen Hurley podcast Commissioner Kosseim discusses the privacy risks facing children and youth online today and explains how educators can help teach kids about online safety using the IPC’s new Privacy Pursuit! lesson plans
Watch the 2022 Privacy Day webcast, Empowering a New Generation of Digital Citizens, to learn how we can best champion the privacy and access rights of Ontario’s children and youth. Key issues discussed include privacy education and digital literacy, empowering children to think critically about their data, and the role of regulation in protecting children and youth in the online world.
Ontario government white paper Modernizing Privacy in Ontario (June 2021) contemplates strengthened protections for children and youth in a private-sector privacy law.
Countries around the world will be celebrating Data Privacy Day by highlighting the impact technology has on our privacy rights and the importance of valuing and protecting personal information.
To mark this occasion, Ontario’s Information and Privacy Commissioner, Patricia Kosseim, will host a free, online webcast on Friday, January 28, from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. EST, entitled Empowering a New Generation of Digital Citizens. The theme of this year’s event is based on one of four strategic priority areas that will guide the IPC’s work over the coming years. The discussion will focus on how we can best champion the privacy and access rights of Ontario’s children and youth by promoting their digital literacy and digital rights while holding institutions accountable for protecting the children and youth they serve.
Key issues to be discussed include:
integrating privacy education as part of the official school curriculum on digital literacy
empowering children and youth to think critically about the collection, use and disclosure of their personal information and assert their privacy rights
the role of regulation in protecting children and youth in the online world
The morning’s agenda:
9:30 a.m. – Welcome and introduction by IPC Commissioner, Patricia Kosseim
9:50 a.m. – Panel Discussion moderated by Assistant Commissioner, Eric Ward
Children use the internet for so many different things these days. They play games, watch shows and videos, visit websites, listen to music, use apps, engage in social networks, chat with family and friends, and even do schoolwork online. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, kids’ use of the internet has grown even further —and making sure they understand the privacy risks of information technologies has never been more important.
Fred Rogers, the much-loved creator of the preschool TV program, Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood, once said, “Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children, play is serious learning. Play is really the work of childhood.”
Indeed, children learn through play. This new activity booklet is designed to help kids learn more about online privacy through games like word searches, crossword puzzles, cryptograms, and word matches, among other fun activities. Through these exercises, kids will pick up some easy-to-understand tips that will help them watch out for scams, protect their privacy, and stay safe online. Some thought-provoking questions will also guide kids through a process of self-discovery by reflecting on what privacy means to them and how to respect the privacy of others through caring and empathy.
The activities in this booklet can be done by children on their own or with the help of friends, siblings, parents, guardians, and teachers. I encourage all parents, educators, and children’s groups to share and download this new activity booklet to help kids start developing good privacy reflexes from a young age. But please note, this activity book comes with an age-appropriate warning against possible side effects. *** Adults who open this book may immediately feel an irresistible urge and temptation to kick back, have fun, dive into the games, and do the activities themselves. But please remember, let the kids answer the questions!!***
All kidding aside, talking to children about privacy from a young age is an important and serious matter. I think back to my recent conversation with international privacy expert Daniel Solove in a recent episode of the Info Matters podcast, Teaching kids about privacy. I remember him so eloquently stating that unless we teach kids why privacy matters as a fundamental value that we should cherish and care about, they will not grow up with the skills they need to protect it.
Going online can have many benefits for our children, but it also comes with some privacy risks. It’s essential we equip our younger generation with the 21st century skills they need to enjoy online activities safely and help support their growth and development as good digital citizens.
On a last, and more personal note: although my own children are now of university age, I sure wish I had a resource like this when they were younger to help teach them about privacy in a “funner,” less boring way, than the daily barrage of warnings I would dole out to them as the “privacy expert mom.”
Make tonight game night, and download your free copy of Privacy Pursuit!
