How Zoe and Molly Online
fits into Kids in the Know:
Zoe and Molly Online is a comic book created to supplement the Kids in the Know Program. It has been created for Grade 4 students to address risks associated with children sharing personal information and sending pictures online. These risks have been identified through reports received by Cybertip.ca, Canada’s tipline for reporting online child sexual exploitation. The comic reinforces the safety strategy from Kids in the Know called “If asked to share and your parents aren’t aware, say No”. This strategy promotes adult involvement and supervision by encouraging children to always check with their guardian first before sharing personal information with anyone.
Zoe and Molly Online is a story about a young girl being manipulated by an individual she meets online who asks her to send increasingly personal information and pictures. The comic is intended for Grade 4 students as data shows that by Grades 5 and 6 children are building online relationships and sending pictures. Playing games online is the favourite weekday activity for younger students. Eighty-nine percent of Grade 4 students report playing games online. Games decrease in popularity by grade while the popularity of instant messaging increases. (Young Canadians in Wired World, 2003-2005)
Children at this age become more interested in online activities; however, do not yet have the capacity to effectively manage some of the situations they may encounter. The comic provides information for children and adults that will increase awareness about potential risks on the Internet and will bridge essential conversation about online personal safety specific to chat components of games.
Instructions for teachers:
- Hand out the pre-test and ask students to fill it out. Their responses will provide a baseline for where you are starting with their understanding of Internet safety.
- Brainstorm what kids use the computer for and some possible risks to be aware of. Continue activating students’ prior knowledge by asking them if they play games online and to provide examples. Ask students if they talk to people online (through games, msn, email, etc.).
- Bring students into the computer lab to complete the activities online. Before they begin, explain that they are going to read a comic about two friends who like to play games and talk to people online. The two girls end up in an unsafe situation. Explain that they are going to complete some activities and make suggestions about what the girls can do to be safer.
- Have students launch the Zoe and Molly Online game and start by reading the interactive comic book, flip through pages by clicking and dragging the lower right hand corner.
- Ask students to carefully read the story and pay attention to the behaviours that are and aren’t safe. (Option: Use a paper copy of the comic, assign characters to students and have them read it aloud. You may also want to use Readers’ Theatre to engage students.)
- Have students click continue to enter Part 2, the comprehension and critical thinking activities. Students can answer as many times as it takes to get the answer right. When they get a green checkmark, they know they have answered correctly.
- Next, have students click continue again to arrive at Part 3. This is their chance to create their own avatar, and to give Zoe and Molly some advice on what they should do in this situation. Students can name their avatar, and then have them enter the last panel of the comic, where they can type in their ending to Zoe and Molly.
- Student(s) can then print out a copy of their completed panel to share with their friends. Review responses together as a class.
- Distribute the post test and clarify any misconceptions that may have formed.
- Students can then either print out the Zoe and Molly template to draw their own scene, or bring it into MSPaint and get creative. They can create their own situation and discuss the outcome with the class.
How to Use it:
- Have students complete the comic pretest. Review the pretest to gain understanding of students’ current safety habits online.
- Continue activating students’ prior knowledge by asking them if they play games online and to provide examples. Ask students if they talk to people online (through games, msn, email, etc.).
- Introduce the comic by explaining that it is about two friends who like to play games and talk to people online. Subsequently, the two girls end up in an unsafe situation.
- Ask students to listen carefully to the story and identify the behaviours that are and aren’t safe. Assign characters to students and have them read the comic aloud. You may also want to use Readers’ Theatre to engage students.
- Upon completion, have students participate in the final activities at the back of the comic. Review responses together as a class.
- Distribute the post test and clarify any misconceptions that may have formed.
- Have students take the comic home to share with their guardians.
