Unit Plan 26 (Grade 5 Counselor): Boundaries, Privacy, and Digital Responsibility

Focus: Extend boundary work into digital responsibility and social decision-making. Students discuss respecting privacy, not sharing personal information, not posting or forwarding hurtful content, not using someone else’s account, and respecting “stop” in both in-person and digital interactions. The counselor emphasizes that digital choices can affect trust, safety, and relationships.

Grade Level: 5

Subject Area: School Counseling (Digital Responsibility • Boundaries • Help-Seeking)

Total Unit Duration: 1–2 weeks, 30 minutes per session

I. Introduction

This Grade 5 counseling lesson helps students understand that boundaries do not disappear when communication happens online or through devices. Students learn that privacy, personal information, account access, photos, messages, screenshots, jokes, and group chats all require safe and respectful decision-making. The counselor emphasizes that digital choices can affect real friendships, trust, school safety, and emotional well-being.

Students analyze realistic situations involving sharing private information, forwarding hurtful content, using someone else’s account, ignoring a request to stop, participating in online teasing, or posting without permission. They practice assertive communication, responsible decision-making, and help-seeking when digital situations become unsafe, repeated, harmful, or too big to handle alone. The goal is for students to understand that digital responsibility is part of personal respect and positive leadership.

Essential Questions

• How do boundaries and privacy apply in digital spaces?
• Why can sharing, posting, forwarding, or screenshotting affect trust, safety, and relationships?
• How can students respond respectfully when someone says “stop” in person or online?
• When should students seek help from a trusted adult about digital concerns?

II. Objectives and Standards

Learning Objectives — Students will be able to:

1. Identify examples of digital boundaries, including privacy, account access, personal information, photos, messages, screenshots, and online comments.
2. Explain why students should not share personal information, private messages, hurtful content, or someone else’s account details.
3. Recognize when digital choices are unsafe, disrespectful, harmful, repeated, or damaging to trust and relationships.
4. Practice assertive communication for setting digital boundaries, such as “Do not share that,” “Please delete that,” “Stop sending that,” or “I am not forwarding this.”
5. Identify when digital situations require help from a trusted adult.
6. (Optional Session) Practice sorting and role-playing digital responsibility scenarios using safe, respectful, and responsible responses.

Standards Alignment — Grade 5 (ASCA-based Custom)

• C:S6.5b — Respect Boundaries, Privacy, and Assertive Communication
  • Understand personal space, body boundaries, privacy, belongings, digital boundaries, and respectful ways to say, hear, and respond to “stop.”
  • Example: A student refuses to share another person’s private information and respects when someone asks for space or privacy.
• C:S6.5a — Identify Trusted Adults and Appropriate Help-Seeking
  • Name trusted adults at school and explain when to seek help for themselves or others.
  • Example: A student knows to report bullying, threats, unsafe behavior, serious worries, harassment, or repeated peer conflict to a teacher, counselor, administrator, or trusted adult.
• C:S6.5c — Make Safe, Respectful, and Responsible Choices
  • Choose actions that support safety, learning, respect, responsibility, and positive leadership in classrooms, hallways, cafeteria, playground, group work, and digital spaces.
  • Example: A student chooses not to participate in gossip, online teasing, unsafe dares, or exclusion and seeks adult help when needed.

Success Criteria — Student Language

• I can explain what a digital boundary is.
• I can identify digital choices that protect or harm privacy, trust, safety, and relationships.
• I can use respectful, assertive words to set a boundary online or in person.
• I can choose not to share, forward, post, screenshot, or repeat hurtful or private information.
• I can name trusted adults who can help with digital problems.