Cover lesson · RE · Year 8 · Beginner
DCF: Citizenship → Online behaviour and online bullying
Name: Class: Date:
Print: this sheet, one per pupil, and the stimulus sheet “The Golden Rule: seven traditions and six online situations”, one per pair. No computers or phones are needed — phones stay away.
Run: 5 min — read Part 1 of the stimulus sheet aloud, one teaching at a time · 8 min — Step 1, the rule in seven traditions · 17 min — Step 2, the Golden Rule test on the six cards · 8 min — Step 3, rewrite three messages · 10 min — Step 4, is the Golden Rule enough? · 5 min — Step 5, write the class charter · 5 min — read the help box aloud and ask pupils to fill in the adult they would go to.
Collect: this sheet. Pupils are not asked what they believe; they are asked what each tradition teaches and what they would do.
Safeguarding — read this before you start: a pupil may recognise one of these situations. Do not take a disclosure in front of the class. Say “come and see me at the end”, take their name, and pass it to the class teacher or the school’s safeguarding lead the same day. Do not promise to keep it secret.
Almost every religion, and many people with no religion, share one idea about how to treat other people: the Golden Rule. Online, it is easy to forget that there is a real person reading. You are going to see how seven traditions word the rule, test six online situations against it, rewrite unkind messages, and decide whether one rule is enough to behave well online.
Some teachings say what you should do (positive). Some say what you should not do (negative). For each tradition, decide which, then write what it would mean in a group chat.
| Tradition | Do or do not? | What it would mean in a group chat (one sentence) |
|---|---|---|
| Christianity | ||
| Judaism | ||
| Islam | ||
| Hinduism | ||
| Buddhism | ||
| Sikhism | ||
| Humanism |
Which kind of teaching, “do” or “do not”, asks more of you online? Why?
For each card, imagine you are the person on the receiving end. Then decide the one thing you would actually do — something realistic, not heroic.
| Card | If I were them, how would I feel? | What would I want someone in the chat to do? | So the one thing I will do is… | A teaching that supports this |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ||||
| 2 | ||||
| 3 | ||||
| 4 | ||||
| 5 | ||||
| 6 |
Each message below is unkind. Rewrite it so that it is still honest but passes the Golden Rule test. If there is nothing kind and honest to say, write what you would do instead.
| Original message | My rewrite |
|---|---|
| “lol ur so bad just quit the game” (to @PixelPanda, card 3) | |
| “nobody actually wants you at the cinema” (about Ffion, card 1) | |
| “★ worst café ever, avoid” (card 5, from someone who has never been) |
Read “A criticism, and a reply” on the stimulus sheet. Then answer in 80–100 words:
“The Golden Rule is all you need to behave well online.” Give one reason to agree, one reason to disagree, and your own conclusion. Mention at least one tradition.
Write four short rules for your class chat. Each one must link to a teaching from Part 1.
1.
2.
3.
4.
| The adult in school I would go to first | |
|---|---|
| A helpline outside school, and its number |