Back-to-School: Helping kids learn about privacy with IPC’s new lesson plans

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.

They include:

• What is Privacy? (Grades 2 – 3)
• Protecting Your Privacy (Grades 4 – 5)
• The Value of Privacy (Grades 6 – 7)
• My Privacy, Your Privacy (Grades 7 – 8)

“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
• Giving Ontario’s youth a seat at the table (Commissioner’s blog)
• Teaching kids about privacy (IPC Info Matters podcast)
• Teenage confidential: Teens, technology and privacy (IPC Info Matters podcast)
• From high school to university: A young person’s perspective on digital privacy (IPC Info Matters podcast)
• Privacy in the school (fact sheet)
• Protecting your students’ privacy online (fact sheet)

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