📋 Robot's Lesson Units · Unit 4
In a game you can't see who's really on the other side. Some chat is green, some is yellow, and a few things are always red.
🎯 Objective Kids can tell a friendly game moment from a risky one, spot the red-flag phrases strangers use, and choose to slow down, say no, or tell a grown-up.
🧠 Robot's 3 Questions
The heart of this unit — pause and ask before you click, allow, share, or install:
Ask the class: “When you chat with someone in a game, how do you KNOW who they really are?” Let a few kids answer. The big idea for today: a friendly username and a cool avatar tell you nothing about the real person typing. Most game chat is perfectly fun — but because you can't see who's there, a few kinds of messages should always make you pause.
Read these two together. Ask: what do a game stranger and a voice chat have in common? (You can't see their face, check their age, or know if what they say is true.) Talking about the game is fine — it's when chat turns personal or private that the yellow light comes on.
A friend request feels flattering — but “CoolPlayer99” could be anyone. Talk about the rule of thumb: if you don't know this person in real life, a friend request is a yellow light, not an automatic yes. A cool profile can be completely fake.
Read each card aloud. Have the class vote 🟢 friendly, keep playing, 🟡 slow down and check, or 🔴 stop and tell a grown-up — then reveal the color. The rule of thumb: talking about the GAME is usually green; anything that asks WHO or WHERE you are, or wants to move somewhere private, turns red.
Now kids make the choice in a Mission: a friend request pops up from a player they've never actually talked to. Walk it through with Robot's 3 Questions and let them decide. Everyone earns the “Trust but Check” skill.
End on the one phrase that's ALWAYS a red flag: “don't tell your parents.” A safe person never asks a kid to keep a secret from their family. Run this Mission together and let kids see why that single sentence tells you everything — and why telling a grown-up is the brave, smart move, never something you get in trouble for.
Name one green-flag and one red-flag thing that can happen in a game chat.
Answer: Green: “good game,” a school friend adds you, someone asks what level you play. Red: asking your real name/city/school, “don't tell your parents,” moving to a private app, or turning on your camera.
🏠 Take it home Challenge: teach a grown-up or a younger sibling the reddest red flag of all — “don't tell your parents.” Anyone who says it is exactly the person your parents need to know about.
Part of the Cyber Ready Roadmap · More for parents & teachers