Teacher’s Lesson Guide for Grades
7-12 StopCyberbullying
Purpose: Teaching password security.
(Designed for a 40 minute class period.)
Student Learning Objectives:
Following
this lesson the students will be able to –
> Appreciate
the importance of secure passwords
> Recognize
risky passwords
> Select
better passwords that are easy to remember but hard to guess.
> Understand
the three levels of password security.
> Understand
the damage that can be done if someone knows their password.
Materials:
Print and read
the “20 Questions for Parents and Teachers” article regarding the twenty most
popular questions people use when creating a password. You may also find “Cyberbullying
101” helpful.
Teaching Tip: Seventy percent of middle
and high school students polled told WiredSafety.org that they share their
passwords with their friends and others have passwords that can be easily
guessed by using the “20 Questions” list. They also often include “password,” “[the name of the
site],” “[their name],” or “123456” to round out the pack. So, even if they
haven’t been given the password as a token of friendship (like a friendship
ring), friends can easily guess each other’s passwords. (Think about your own
password creation methods. Most of us adults fall into the same risk categories
as our students!)
To top it off, in many cases students who want to abuse
their friend’s passwords don’t even have to guess or remember it. Since friends
using each others’ computers or devices often store their password for faster
revisits, they merely need to call up the log-in page and there it is!
Saved passwords are a particular problem in schools and
community access centers (libraries, for example). People of all ages tend to
forget and instead save their passwords on the computer to make it easy for
them when they return, but it also makes it easier for the next person to abuse
them.
Classroom Activities:
Step
one: Ask your students to list the sort of words
they use as passwords. They may list things such as their favorite band, movie,
or food. Make a list of the twenty most common questions they ask themselves or
the different methods they use when coming up with a new password; you may
write the list on the board if you wish.
Step two: Read the “20 Questions” list to your
students. While our list may differ slightly from yours, you will probably see
many overlapping themes.
Emphasize
the importance of choosing a password that is not based on the 20 questions, because anyone who knows you may be
able to figure out your password. For example, if you simply chose the name of
your favorite band as your password, anyone who knew you could easily guess it.
Step
three: Now you can
teach your students about the three levels of password security and how to
choose better passwords.
Level 1:
The first level of password security can be used for accounts that do not
contain any of your personal information or ones that simply allow access to
the site. These are accounts where no progress or work would be lost if they
were hacked, such as an account for a news website. The passwords for this type
of an account may be somewhat simple, such as a combination of two of your
favorite things such as your favorite movie and your favorite snack:
matrixpopcorn.
Level 2:
The second level of password security should be used for accounts that you
visit somewhat frequently and have a low level of personal information, such as
a gaming account. For these types of accounts, a higher level of security is
required. Consider adding the abbreviation for the website or numbers to your
password. For example, if the website was called Silverspoon Games, you could
add “SG” to your password: matrixpopcornSG.
Level 3:
The third level of password security is for your most important accounts, such
as any social networking account or email account. For these types of accounts,
maximum security is required. The easiest way to make a strong password for
this type of account is to use a sentence, complete with capitalization, punctuation
(if the website allows), and a number. For example, “IliketodrinkH2O.”
Have your
students brainstorm examples for each level of security.
Step 4: Emphasize to your students that a
strong password will do you no good if always click “save my login and
password.” While this may be fine on your personal computer than no one else
uses, in many cases it is a security risk. Even if you share the computer with
your siblings, they may be tempted to snoop in your personal accounts or even
send out messages from your email account, causing trouble by pretending to be
you.
