Our Class's Online Rules
In the earlier lessons you learned to protect your password, your personal things, and to check ads. Today you put them together into rules of your own: short, clear, and understood by the whole class.
For parents: a one-page guide — dinner questions and a poster without a screen.
01Remember
Today's lesson gathers things from four lessons. Think first, then open the answer.
Who do you tell your password to?
Only a parent or guardian.
What do you do before you write or post something personal?
I ask a grown-up.
What are the three questions to ask about an ad?
Who made it? What do they want from me? What does another source say?
02Story
In an imaginary class 3B, the children get a tablet for the drawing lesson. Before they switch it on, the teacher asks: “What rules do we want?”
The first idea is: “Do not touch!” The second: “Do not do silly things.” The teacher smiles. “And what can we do? How will you know that you kept the rule?”
The class tries again. Someone says: “Before I post something personal — I ask a grown-up.” And someone adds: “Because what is posted can be copied.” This rule is easy to check: did you ask, or not?
They choose five rules, write them on a poster and hang it next to the tablet. Two weeks later a new ad pops up in a game. There is no rule for it. The class stops, asks the teacher and adds a sixth rule — and takes another one off, so five are left.
The class is made up. Rules work when people understand them and can change them together.
03Worked example
A rule helps only if it is a good one. Here is how a “weak” rule becomes a good one. We start with: “Do not do silly things on the internet.”
Is it short?
Yes, it is short. But it is unclear: what are the “silly things”? Everyone understands them differently.
Does it say what to do?
No. It only says what not to do. Better: “Before I post something personal — I ask a grown-up.” Now I know what to do.
Does it have a “because”?
A rule that is understood is easier to keep. We add: “…because what is posted can be copied.”
Can I check it?
Yes. At the end of the day I can say: did I ask, or not? A rule like “be careful” cannot be checked.
A good rule
Short · says what to do · has a “because” · can be checked. A rule is not a punishment. It is like a road sign: it helps us feel calm.
04Try it now
You type nothing here — you only choose from ready cards. Nothing is saved or sent. No points and no time.
1 · Predict
Which rule is easier to keep?
2 · Run: build five rules
These are eight cards. Each comes from a lesson you already know. Choose exactly five and see your poster. Press a chosen card again to take it off.
Choose cards and your poster will appear.
3 · Change: test the rules
Here are seven made-up situations. See which ones your rules cover. Then go back up, take one rule off, put another on and look again.
Five rules do not cover everything. That is why many classes also have the rule “When I am not sure — I stop and ask.”
05No screen: a poster for the class
You need: a big sheet (or two A4 sheets), coloured pens, tape or glue and some more people — the class, a group or the family.
Everyone chooses. Copy the eight cards onto slips of paper. Each person picks their five and puts them in order. Write only the rules — no passwords, addresses or account names.
We say “because”. Each person shows one card and says why they chose it. One person speaks, the others listen to the end.
We agree on five together. If opinions differ, everyone says one “because” and you decide again. Each rule must be short, clear and say what to do.
The poster. Write the five rules on the sheet and draw a small picture next to each one. Hang the poster where a device is used. Instead of a name, everyone draws a little star.
Say together: “These rules are ours. We made them together and we can change them together with the teacher or parent.”
06Make your own
Now you are a Creator. You do two things: you explain, and you make something for another person.
- Explain to someone. Choose one of your five rules. Explain it to a younger child or to a grown-up at home: what it says, why it is good and when you use it. If they ask “why?”, answer with a “because”.
- Make for someone. Draw a card with three rules and a picture next to each — for a younger brother or sister, for a grandparent or for a classmate you know. Give it to them in person.
Do not write real passwords, addresses, phone numbers or account names — only the rules. The card is a gift, not an announcement: do not post it on the internet.
07What I learned
- A good rule is short, says what to do, has a “because” and can be checked.
- Class rules are agreed together. That way everyone knows what they mean.
- Five rules do not cover everything. When there is no rule — I stop and ask, and later we can change the rules.
A computer follows only the rules that someone wrote for it. And you — which rules do you follow gladly, and why?
Check yourself
1. Which rule is best for a poster?
2. Why is it good for a poster to have only five rules?
3. Something happens and there is no rule for it. What do we do?
It is yours when you can explain to someone why a rule is good and make a card of rules for someone. No points and no rankings — just a skill.
08I have a question
Do you still have a question? Write it here. It goes to your parent, not to strangers. Your parent confirms their e-mail first.
The form is loading… If it does not appear, write your question on paper and show it to a parent or teacher.
·Sources
- Title: Our Class's Online Rules (DB-IB-07) · Author: Children's Library, East Accelerator Foundation · Source: original content, 2026 (no third-party text or images) · Rights: CC BY-SA 4.0.
- The story, the class and the examples are made up by us. The rule cards gather ideas from lessons DB-IB-01, DB-IB-02, DB-IB-03 and DB-IB-04 of the Children's Library.
- School link: Bulgarian curriculum, Computer Modelling, grade 3 — digital safety.
- Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0 · Children's Library, East Accelerator Foundation, 2026. You may share and adapt this lesson if you credit the author and keep the same licence. Learning is free forever.