Objectives
Students will:
- Understand why it's important to guard personal information from a stranger
- Identify common ways that strangers get people to disclose personal information
- Identify types of personal information that should be guarded from strangers
- Identify the negative consequences of disclosing personal information to a stranger
- Identify personal benefits of guarding personal information from a stranger
- Identify behaviors that accompany disclosing personal information to a stranger
- Identify behaviors that accompany guarding personal information from a stranger.
- Model successfully guarding personal information from a stranger.
- Develop strategies for successfully guarding personal information from strangers.
Step 1: Lesson Introduction
Last time, we found out why it's important to disregard a stranger's promise. We learned that if you trust a stranger's promise, you could get in trouble. There are other ways to get in trouble with strangers. One of these ways is by disclosing personal information.
- Ask students to identify some types of personal information that might be too personal to share with a stranger. This includes where you live, your phone number, where you work or go to school, your daily schedule, etc.
- Ask students to discuss instances when they or someone they knew got in trouble by disclosing personal information.
- Tell students that in today's video, we're going to see why it's important to guard personal information from strangers.
▶️ Show the video.
⏸️ Stop the video when the "Pause for Discussion" title appears on the screen.
Step 2: Guided Discussion, Part 1
What did Meika do that was NotSmart?
She discloses personal information to the stranger.
- Her name
- Where she lives
- She lives alone
- Her dog is small
- Where she works
- When she rides this
- Where she shop
- When she's out of the house
She's much too innocent and friendly with him.
- Smiles, eager to please
- Friendly facial expression and tone of voice
- Trusting eye contact
- Faces him, waits expectantly for him to continue the conversation
What happened because Meika was NotSmart?
She's likely to get in trouble. She's practically drawn a map to her home and given him an engraved invitation to come over and stalk her, rob her, rape her or even murder her.
How could Meika have been PeopleSmart?
Have students discuss how Meika could have been PeopleSmart in the same situation. Then tell students to watch the next part of the video to see one-way Meika could have been PeopleSmart.
▶️ Start the video again.
⏸️ Stop the video when the "Pause for Discussion” title appears on the screen.
Step 3: Guided Discussion, Part 2
How was Meika PeopleSmart this time?
She guards her personal information.
- Doesn't give her name to him or any strangers
- Doesn't shake his hand
- Won't tell him when she rides this bus
- Keeps eyes out the window
- Makes eye contact and faces him only to emphasize a point
- Facial expression and tone of voice that says "I mean business"
- No smile
When he doesn't leave, she loses patience and "cranks it up a notch" because he obviously "doesn't get it." She asks him very firmly to change seats or she'll call the driver.
What happened because Meika was PeopleSmart?
He leaves. By guarding her personal information, she keeps him from knowing anything about her. And she's shown him she's no one to mess with, so he won't pester her again. She doesn't have to worry about this guy. She won't get in trouble. She's in control of her life.
What can we learn from this?
- Guard your personal information from strangers. When you disclose personal information, you surrender control of your life. If you tell a stranger things like where you live, where you work, what your schedule is, etc., you give the stranger power over you. The stranger could use this information to harm you or get you in serious trouble.
- When you like yourself and have plenty of friends, you don't need the approval of a stranger. You won't give out personal information or do anything else you don't want to do just to gain the stranger's approval.
- But if your self-esteem is low, you're hungry for approval, even from a stranger. You're vulnerable to a stranger's tricks to get you to do what the stranger wants, instead of what you want to do. You're more likely to get in trouble by trying to please the stranger. So work on boosting your self-esteem, and you'll be much less likely to get in trouble with strangers.
- As Meika demonstrated, you don't have to be mean or nasty in guarding your personal information from a stranger. Just be assertive in a firm, no-nonsense way that lets the stranger know you mean business.
- Know that you're right in guarding your personal information from a stranger and standing firm in your decision. Show your conviction in what you say and how you say it.
- Again, asserting yourself with a stranger who's trying to get you into trouble is a battle of wills. Use all of your resources - your words, your tone of voice, your body language, your facial expression—to show that your will is stronger than the stranger's will. By doing this, you'll avoid getting in trouble with strangers and avoid becoming a victim.
Step 4: Activities
Have students create a wall chart listing the types of personal information that should be guarded from strangers. Based on this list:
- Have students pair off and roleplay being asked by a stranger to disclose each item of personal information on the list.
- Each time, instruct students to tell the stranger, "That's none of your business" or “I don't tell that to strangers."
- Have the class provide feedback on how well students show their conviction in all of their verbal and nonverbal behaviors.
Have students create wall charts listing behaviors that accompany:
- trusting a stranger's promise, and
- disregarding a stranger's promise
Have students roleplay each of these behaviors.
Have students roleplay the NotSmart and PeopleSmart vignettes from the video. After each roleplay, have students discuss how they feel.
Remind students of the earlier discussion of instances when they or someone they knew got in trouble by disclosing personal information to a stranger.
Have students roleplay
- NotSmart behavior, and
- PeopleSmart behavior in these situations.
Have students brainstorm different ways a stranger might try to get them to disclose personal information. If possible, invite a law enforcement representative to help students identify these ways. These might include: being told on the phone that you must give your address to receive a prize you've won; being called by someone from "the government" who needs your social security number; standing in line at the bank and having a stranger ask for the PIN access number of your bank card, etc.
- Have students take turns roleplaying NotSmart and People Smart behavior in these situations in front of the class.
- Have the class provide feedback.
Have students:
- Keep a journal of how well they guard personal information from strangers.
- Report their experiences to the class. Have the class assist them in learning from their experiences and developing strategies for successfully guarding personal information from strangers.
Have students form small groups and create and perform rap songs entitled "None of Your Business." Award prizes for each song's performance.
Have students discuss TV or movie scenes where a character got in trouble by disclosing personal information to a stranger. Have students roleplay these situations.
Have students identify the negative consequences of disclosing personal information to a stranger and the personal benefits of guarding personal information. Then have them create separate wall charts listing these consequences.