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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

Volunteering is changing at Scouts. Read more

Discover what this means

Socially kind

First suggested by The British Red Cross
Find out how older Scouts can use their social media for acts of kindness.

Back to Activities

You’ll need

  • A4 paper
  • Pens or pencils
  • Sticky tack
  • String
Social media quiz
PDF – 90.1KB
Social media kindness photographs
PDF – 209.1KB
Social media statements
PDF – 85.2KB

Before you begin

  1. Use the pen and paper to make labels with ‘A’, ‘B’, and ‘C’ on them. Stick the labels around your meeting place. Alternatively, you could use ‘Kahoot! Quiz’ on a computer to run the quiz.
  2. Use the pen and paper to make labels saying ‘True’ and ‘False’. Keep these to one side to put up later.

Do the ‘Social media quiz’

  1. The person leading the game should read out one of the questions on the ‘Social media quiz’ sheet, with all of the answer options.
  2. Everyone should move to the space labelled with their answer.
  3. The person leading the game should tell everyone the right answer. Everyone should move back to the middle of the space, and play again until they’ve answered all of the questions on the sheet.

Walking debate

  1. The person leading the game should label one side of the space with a ‘true’ label, and the other side with a ‘false’ label. They should put a piece of string between the labels to connect them.
  2. The person leading the game should read a statement from the ‘Social media statements’ sheet.
  3. Everyone should decide how much they agree with the statement. They should stand somewhere on the string line, depending on how they feel.
  4. The person leading the game should ask everyone why they chose to stand where they’re standing.

Think about kindness and social media

  1. The person leading the game should give out copies of the ‘Social media kindness photographs’ sheet.
  2. Everyone should think of some other examples of where social media or digital tools have been used to show kindness.

Group activity

  1. Split the group into teams. Each team should come up with a new way that social media can be used to do nice things.
  2. Everyone should create a Dragon’s Den-style pitch to present their idea as a team. Anyone not familiar with ‘pitching’ an idea could instead write or record a code of conduct for the use of social media.
  3. The person leading the activity should decide which team had the best idea and who gave the best pitch.
Logo containing the words Scouts for SDGs. The O in Scouts is made up of 17 coloured segments, representing the 17 goals.

This activity helps contribute towards some of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals. Find out more about the SDGs, and how Scouts across the world are getting involved.

Reflection

Social media can be a really useful tool that helps people to do something kind for someone they know (or someone they don’t). How has social media changed the way people talk to each other? How can people use it to make a positive difference?

Being caring and kind online is a great way to make new friends. How can social media be used to help both friends and the wider community? How can people make sure that social media remains a safe and friendly place for everyone?

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 CommandAs always, if you’ve got concerns about a young person’s welfare, including their online experiences, follow the Yellow Card to make a report.

Phones and cameras

Make sure parents and carers are aware and have given consent for photography.

Add statements or quiz questions to give the group an extra challenge. You could remove any questions or statements that are too challenging, or give clues.

Talk about social media, in all its forms, in more depth and explore why one form might be better than another.

Make it accessible

All Scout activities should be inclusive and accessible.

Everyone could visit missing maps to see how people can help map areas of the world in disaster areas from their computer or phone via the Maps swipe app. The group could even start a social action project on their own social media.

Discover more at https://www.redcross.org.uk/

Everyone’s thoughts on social media are important – everyone should have the chance to contribute.