Curriculum
Manners, Cyberbullying, & Ethics: Grades 6-8
Can You Hack It?
Download Student Sheet(s) for printout in PDF format.
Read a Letter to Educators about online manners, bullying, and ethics from CyberSmart!
Overview
Students learn that computers and electronic files are property and explore the reasons for, consequences, and ethics of teen hacking.
Objectives
- Identify computers and electronic files as property
- Recognize unauthorized entering of computer systems as unethical and illegal
- Describe the effects of hacking on all involved
National Educational Technology Standards for Students © 2007
Source: International Society for Technology in Education- Digital Citizenship
- advocate and practice safe, legal, and responsible use of information and technology.
- exhibit leadership for digital citizenship.
Home Connection
Download the Home Connection sheet related to this lesson.
Site Preview
No Internet site is used in this lesson.
Materials
- Activity sheets (2)
Introduce
- Have students imagine they have heard a rumor about "mischief night," in which young teens go out after dark to damage property.
- Ask: What is wrong about this? Why might kids do it?
Teach 1
- Distribute Activity Sheet 1.
- Have students read and complete the page individually or in small groups. NOTE: Postpone discussion until students have read and completed Activity Sheet 2.
Teach 2
- Distribute Activity Sheet 2 and have students read and discuss all except the activity.
- Then have students revisit Activity Sheet 1 and make changes or additions.
Teach 3
- Conduct the activity on Activity Sheet 2.
- Explain that "peer court" is a way of keeping first-time juvenile offenders out of the juvenile justice system. It focuses less on the law and how teens broke it and more on the rights and wrongs of a person's actions. (Make sure students understand that teens who take this alternative route must first acknowledge that they broke the law.) Peer court roles are taken by volunteer high school students, except for that of the judge, who is a real judge. Members of the jury are permitted to question the defendants and others. Sentences cannot include jail time or fines, but may include writing assignments (such as letters of apology or research), restitution, attendance at workshops or counseling sessions, home restrictions, and community service.
- Make sure each student has a role in the mock peer court and then conduct the role play. Remind students to focus on the ethical decisions made by the defendants.
Assess
The following items assess student mastery of the lesson objectives.
- Ask: To whom do the computers you connect to on the Internet belong?
- Ask: Why is it wrong to enter a computer without permission?
- Ask: How does hacking affect the computer owner?
Extend
The following activity can be added for students who completed this lesson in a previous grade.
- Have students use search engines to find cases of "hacktivism," in which activists seeking to further a cause (for example, political or environmental) use the methods of hackers to enter computer systems. Discuss the ethics of breaking the law to help bring about a good result.
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