Who This Poster Is For
My poster is designed for my Grade 5 students. Most of them don’t have phones yet, so their main ways of being online are Messenger Kids and gaming platforms like Roblox and Minecraft. That’s why I built the poster around those spaces.
Why Prevention?
My students are too young to be charged under the Criminal Code. In Canada, no one under 12 can be convicted of an offence (Criminal Code, 1985, s. 13). The offences connected to my poster include unauthorized use of a computer (s. 342.1), identity fraud (s. 403), sharing intimate images without consent (s. 162.1), uttering threats (s. 264.1), and criminal harassment (s. 264) (Criminal Code, 1985).
My students aren’t there yet, but they are certainly getting close. So I decided to focus on prevention and awareness to help them build good habits before the law ever becomes part of the picture.
The Inquiry Question
In the classroom, I’ve noticed that many of my students’ poor choices are often blamed on making a “joke.” So I focused my poster on this inquiry question:
What happens when the “joke” goes too far?
What’s on the Poster
I set the poster’s theme around gaming, showing three levels of consequences:
- Level 1: Friends and Family
- Level 2: The Game
- Level 3: The Law (once students turn 12)
I’ve also included:
- Who gets hurt by the “joke”: the person targeted, the person who did it, kids who see it, and families
- Simple steps for what to do if it happens: Stop. Save. Block. Tell.
- Why choices matter now, even before the law applies
The poster is Grade 5 friendly, with a small section at the bottom for parents and teachers that includes extra resources and references. The QR codes link to Kids Help Phone for students who need to talk to someone, and to MediaSmarts for those who want to learn more.
Curriculum Connections
I would use this poster as part of the BC Grade 5 Physical and Health Education curriculum, which includes strategies for responding to bullying, discrimination and violence (British Columbia Ministry of Education and Child Care, n.d.). It also connects to the First Peoples Principle of Learning that learning involves recognizing the consequences of one’s actions (First Nations Education Steering Committee, n.d.).
Making It Accessible: POUR Principles
To make the poster accessible, I used the POUR principles:
- Perceivable: I checked the colour contrast and adjusted the colours to make the text easy to read. Level names are written out, so meaning doesn’t depend on colour alone. I used only two fonts. Atkinson Hyperlegible, designed for readers with low vision, is used for all body text.
- Operable: Each QR code has its web address typed beside it, and the Kids Help Phone numbers are printed, so no one needs to scan to get help.
- Understandable: The language is plain, and every example follows the same pattern.
- Robust: The QR codes have alt text, the decorative icons are marked so screen readers skip them, and the poster is exported as a tagged PDF.
References
British Columbia Ministry of Education and Child Care. (n.d.). Physical and health education 5. https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/curriculum/physical-health-education/5/core
Criminal Code, RSC 1985, c C-46. https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/c-46/
First Nations Education Steering Committee. (n.d.). First Peoples principles of learning. https://www.fnesc.ca/first-peoples-principles-of-learning/