Worked example · RE · Year 8
DCF: Citizenship → Online behaviour and online bullying
A secure Year 8 response, annotated so you can see which success criterion each part meets. Answer key for Step 1: “do” — Christianity, Islam, Sikhism, Humanism; “do not” — Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism. (Sikhism’s teaching describes an attitude to everyone rather than a rule; “do” is the better fit, but accept either with a reason.) Steps 2 to 5 have no single right answer: look for a realistic action and a teaching that fits it.
| Tradition | Do or do not? | What it would mean in a group chat |
|---|---|---|
| Christianity | Do | Send the kind of messages you would like to get. |
| Judaism | Do not | If you would hate a comment about you, do not post it about anyone else. |
| Islam | Do | Want the same respect for everyone in the chat that you want for yourself. |
| Hinduism | Do not | Do not post anything you would find hurtful if it were about you. |
| Buddhism | Do not | Do not hurt people with words that would hurt you. |
| Sikhism | Do | Treat people you do not know, even in a game, as friends, not enemies or strangers. |
| Humanism | Do | Before replying, imagine being them, reading it. |
The “do” teachings ask more. You can keep a “do not” rule by staying silent, but a “do” rule means you have to act — for example, messaging Tomos or reporting the players in the game.
All seven are sorted correctly, each one is turned into something practical for a chat, and the last answer spots the real difference: silence keeps a “do not” rule but breaks a “do” rule. Evidences criterion 1.
| Card | If I were them | What I would want | The one thing I will do | Teaching |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Left out and embarrassed, wondering what I did wrong. | Someone to say it is not fair. | Leave the chat and tell one friend in it I think we should invite Ffion. | Judaism: “What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour.” |
| 2 | Humiliated, and scared to come into school. | Someone to get it taken down before I see it. | Not laugh-react. Ask the poster to delete it; if it stays up, tell a teacher. | Buddhism: “Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful.” |
| 3 | Useless, and like quitting the game. | One person to be on my side. | Type “unlucky, stick with me” to @PixelPanda and use the game’s report button on the two players. | Sikhism: “No one is my enemy, and no one is a stranger.” |
| 4 | Mocked for my faith, and not welcome. | Someone to show they are with me. | Message Amira privately to say it was out of order, and tell our form tutor, because it targets her religion. | Islam: “None of you truly believes until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself.” |
| 5 | Worried about my family losing money over a fall-out that is not theirs. | People to stop and think. | Reply “no, his family haven’t done anything” and tell an adult, because fake reviews hurt a real business. | Hinduism: “never do that to another which one regards as injurious to one’s own self”. |
| 6 | Betrayed and embarrassed. | The screenshot to stop with the person who got it. | Not forward it, delete it, and tell my friend I’m not sending it on. | Humanism: treat others as you’d want to be treated “in their situation”. |
Every row starts from the other person’s feelings, picks one action a Year 8 pupil would actually take, and uses a different tradition, each one matched to the situation rather than picked at random. Cards 2, 4 and 5 include telling an adult. Evidences criterion 2.
| Original message | My rewrite |
|---|---|
| “lol ur so bad just quit the game” | “Tough round. Stick near me next time and we’ll get them.” |
| “nobody actually wants you at the cinema” | There is nothing kind and honest to send, so I would not send anything. Instead I’d write in the group: “If we’re going, we should ask Ffion.” |
| “★ worst café ever, avoid” | No rewrite: I have never eaten there, so any review would be dishonest. If I had been, I would write a fair review of the food and service, not of Dylan. |
The first rewrite keeps the honesty (it was a tough round) and drops the insult. The other two recognise that some messages cannot be fixed by rewording — the Golden Rule answer is not to post at all, and to act instead. Evidences criterion 3.
I partly agree. The Golden Rule is a good test before posting: if I would hate a comment about me, I should not post it about someone else, which is what Rabbi Hillel taught. It would stop most of the six cards. But it is not quite enough. People are different, and a joke I would find funny might really hurt Amira. The humanist reply fixes this: imagine being them, with their feelings. So the Golden Rule is a strong starting point, but online you also need to know how to report things and when to tell an adult.
99 words. A reason to agree with a named tradition, a reason to disagree drawn from the criticism, the humanist reply used to answer it, and a conclusion that goes beyond “it depends”. Evidences criterion 4.
1. Before you post, ask: would I hate this if it were about me? If yes, don’t. (Judaism, Hillel)
2. Nobody is a stranger: players and people you have never met get the same respect as friends. (Sikhism)
3. Want for others what you want for yourself — if someone is being picked on, back them up. (Islam)
4. Picture the person reading it, with their feelings, not yours. (Humanism)
The adult in school I would go to first: my Head of Year.
A helpline outside school: Meic, 080880 23456, 8am to midnight every day, in Welsh or English. Or Childline, 0800 1111.
A named person in school and a working number outside it. Evidences criterion 5.