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Volunteering at Scouts is changing to help us reach more young people

Volunteering is changing to help us reach more young people

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Keep it secret, keep it safe

Master mobile safety as you lunge for ladders and sneak past snakes in this life-size board game.
Plan a session with this activity

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You’ll need

  • Chalk
  • Masking tape
  • Dice
  • String
  • Scrap paper

You might use your phone for lots of different things, so it’s important to keep it and yourself safe. Childline have lots of information about:

Before you begin

  • Use chalk or masking tape to mark out a ‘snakes and ladders’ board. Your board needs to be five squares by seven squares and each square needs to be large enough for a person to stand in. For large groups, consider creating more than one board and running several games at once.
  • Number each square from one (the bottom left) to 35 (the top right).
  • Use chalk, string, paper or anything else you can think of to make some snakes and ladders on your board. String snakes and paper ladders work well. A typical board will have five or six snakes and five or six ladders.

Run the activity

  1. Pick someone to be the quiz master. If everyone wants to be on the board, the person leading the activity can do this.
  2. Everyone should line up at the first square (square one). Give the dice to the first player to go.
  3. The first player should roll. The number they roll is the number of squares they can move. When that player has moved to their square, they should pass or slide the dice back to the start so the next player can go.
  4. If any player lands on a square where there’s the bottom of a ladder, they should be asked a question from the by the quiz master.

These can be found in the 'Questions and answers' below.

  1. If they get the question right, they may move up the ladder to the square at the top of the ladder. If they get the question wrong, they should remain where they are.
  2. If any player lands on a square where there’s the head of a snake, they should be asked a question from the ‘Questions and answers’ by the quiz master. If they get the question right, they should remain where they are. If they get the question wrong, they should move down the snake to the square at the bottom of the snake (the snake’s ‘tail’).
  3. The first player to reach the final square wins.

Questions and answers

Number

Question

Answer

Explanation

1.

The best way to protect a phone from damage while using it is to…

    1. Keep it in your pocket
    2. Use a sturdy phone case
    3. Always leave it home

B

There are phone cases available for almost every phone and they’ll help protect it from accidents.

2.

To protect a phone screen from being scratched or smashed you should…

    1. Use a fitted screen protector
    2. Keep it in a pocket with other things
    3. Only drop it on its back

A

Screen protectors are a cheap and effective way to stop your screen getting scratched or smashed.

3.

The best way to keep a phone charged and protect its battery life is to…

    1. Always charge it overnight
    2. Charge it when it needs it
    3. Only charge it after the battery has died

B

Leaving a phone plugged in while it doesn’t need charging can damage the battery. Also letting a phone always run out of charge can lower the life of the battery.

4.

If you’re worried that someone will try to take your phone, you should…

    1. Keep it hidden
    2. Shout at them to go away
    3. Hold it tightly in your hands

A

Keeping a phone hidden is the best way to stop people knowing it’s there at all.

5.

It’s safe to use a phone while…

    1. Crossing the road
    2. Walking down the street
    3. Not doing anything else

C

You should always be aware of your surroundings. If you use phones while crossing the road or walking down the street you may injure yourself or someone else.

6.

Who shouldn’t you let borrow a phone?

    1. Your friends
    2. A stranger
    3. Your family

B

Only ever let people you trust borrow a phone as they may see things you want to keep private.

If someone tells you they really need to borrow your phone and you don’t know or trust them, you could direct them to a nearby shop or payphone instead of letting them borrow yours.

7.

The best way to keep the things on a phone private is to…

    1. Use a PIN or password
    2. Turn the brightness down so no one can see the screen
    3. Put a sticker over the screen to hide it

A

Using a PIN or password that only you know will stop people from getting to your personal information. There are other forms of protection such as fingerprint scanners or even face ID.

8.

Hackers can get into a phone through Bluetooth, true or false?

    1. True
    2. False

A – True

There have been cases of phones being hacked and personal information being stolen wirelessly through a Bluetooth connection. Turn your Bluetooth off when you aren’t using it and only connect to devices you trust.

9.

It’s safe to always leave the ‘NFC’ function on to pay for things with it, true or false?

    1. True
    2. False

B – False

NFC (Near-field communication) is a method for devices such as mobile phones and card readers to send information wirelessly when they are less than 4cm apart.

 

NFC can be a great feature, allowing you to pay for things without a card. However, someone with a portable card reader may be able to authorise a payment on a phone without you even knowing, so it’s best to keep it turned off if you aren’t using it.

10.

It’s a good idea to store your bank cards in a case with your mobile phone, true or false?

    1. True
    2. False

B – False

Keeping all of your personal items together might be helpful and easy to keep track of. However, if they get lost or stolen, you won’t have any way of contacting someone for help or paying for things like travel or replacements.

11.

You should give out a phone number to…

    1. Anyone who asks for it
    2. People who you know and trust
    3. Every website you sign up for

B

It’s best to only give a phone number out to people you trust. Websites may sell a phone number to advertising companies or people could use it to pretend to be you.

12.

What should you do if you or someone you know is being cyberbullied?

    1. Ignore it, it’ll go away
    2. Speak to an adult you trust
    3. Send mean comments back to them

B

You should always speak to an adult you trust as they can help solve the problem. You could also talk to a phone company, as they will have dealt with this behaviour before and have people you can talk to.

13.

Who can see your social media posts?

    1. Whoever you decide with your privacy settings
    2. Only your friends
    3. Everyone online

A

You can decide who can see your social media posts by changing your privacy settings. It’s best to check these, as the default options may not be what you want.

14.

You can only get scammed through…

    1. Phone calls
    2. Emails
    3. Text messages
    4. All of the above

D

There are lots of people out there who might try to scam you for your money or personal information. It’s best to ignore texts, emails and phone calls from people you don’t know or places you don’t trust.

15.

It’s safe to sign up to any website I want on the internet, true or false?

    1. True
    2. False

B – False

There are websites out there who could be trying to scam you, so only sign up to websites that you know and trust.

16.

It’s safe to click adverts on any website, true or false?

    1. True
    2. False

B – False

While most adverts just want to sell you something, some might send you to fake websites or try to install viruses on your device. It’s best to use a trusted search engine to find the products you want to buy online.

17.

Everything I put online will…

    1. Only stay where I put it
    2. Probably stay online forever
    3. Be easy to take down if I want to

B

In some cases, things you post online can be very difficult to get rid of. People could also save things that you post, so even if you remove them, they still exist somewhere. Only post things you’re happy to share forever.

18.

People might lie about who they are on online games, true or false?

    1. True
    2. False

A – True

Some people could have bad intentions online and you have no way of knowing if they’re telling the truth about who they are or not. Be careful!

19.

When might it be safe to meet people in person that you’ve met online…

    1. When you think you can trust them
    2. Never
    3. When they tell you that they’re trustworthy

B

It’s not a good idea to meet people in person that you have met online. People can be very good at pretending to be someone they’re not and it can be impossible to tell who you might be able to trust if you haven’t met them before.

20.

Only I can see personal information that I use to sign up to social media websites, true or false?

    1. True
    2. False

B – False

Sometimes information you use to sign up to websites online may become public, like email addresses or phone numbers, only use details you don’t mind other people knowing.

​

Reflection

This giant game of snakes and ladders should’ve taught everyone something new about keeping their mobile phone safe. Online safety and general device housekeeping are important topics in the modern world. Did anyone find out that something they do often is risky or potentially damaging, and has anyone learned anything new to help keep them and their devices safe?

Safety

All activities must be safely managed. You must complete a thorough risk assessment and take appropriate steps to reduce risk. Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Always get approval for the activity, and have suitable supervision and an InTouch process.

Online safety

Supervise young people when they’re online and give them advice about staying safe. Take a look at our online safety or bullying guidance. The NSPCC offers more advice and guidance, too. If you want to know more about specific social networks and games, Childnet has information and safety tips for apps. You can also report anything that’s worried you online to the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Command. As always, if you’ve got concerns about a young person’s welfare, including their online experiences, follow the Yellow Card to make a report.

Lengthen the game by making the board bigger, and shorten it by making it smaller. You could also rank the questions by difficulty and ask tougher ones towards the end of the board.

If it’s easier, players could move one person around the board, with the other players rolling the dice and answering the questions from the side of the board.

Use the printed off example board from the Question and answer sheet to make a miniature version of this game, if moving across the life-size version isn’t an option.

All Scout activities should be inclusive and accessible.

Scouts Communicator Activity Badge

Looking into staying safe online in more detail can help anyone working towards their Digital Citizen Badge.

Encourage everyone to talk openly about online safety, device safety and what they think about the multiple-choice/true or false questions and answers. If anyone has any questions, open them up to the floor. Anyone knowledgeable about online safety could produce their own questions for this activity, so long as all information is fact-checked first.