Is It Personal?

1. What your child learns and why

Your child learns that personal means what tells who they are or where they are: full name, address, phone number, school, photos and where they are right now. A password is secret — told only to a parent or guardian. A favourite colour or food does not tell who they are. A second idea: several pieces together say more than each one alone. The habit we build: before writing or posting something personal, ask a grown-up. Your child types nothing in the lesson.

2. Three questions for dinner

• “What do you think is personal? Give an example of something personal and something that is not.”
• “The postman needs our address. Does a drawing game need it?”
• “Which things about yourself do you tell everyone, and which only the people closest to you?”

3. 10 minutes together, no screen — “Three plates”

1. Your child writes only the kinds on 10 slips: name, address, phone number, school, photo, where I am now, password, favourite colour, favourite food, favourite animal. No real details.
2. Sort them into three plates: “Secret”, “Personal — I ask”, “Fine to say”. Ask “Why there?” — listen to the explanation, do not correct it right away.
3. The game “Do I ask?”: you describe a case — a drawing game wants their phone number; a learning game wants a nickname — and they answer “I ask” or “No need”.

4. What success looks like

• Your child explains in words why an address is personal and a favourite colour is not.
• Says unprompted: “Before I write something personal, I ask.”

5. Common difficulties

• “Everyone in class posts it.” → “That may be so. Our rule is to ask, not to forbid. Let's see why they need it.”
• “Is my favourite animal personal?” → “On its own it does not tell who you are. But don't use it as a password — it is easy to guess.”
• If your child has already shared something — do not punish. What matters is that they told you. Talk about what you can do together.

For you: when your child sets up a profile, sit down together — a nickname instead of a real name, a drawing instead of a photo, empty fields that are not needed. There are materials for parents in the “Sharing personal data” section of safenet.bg (in Bulgarian).

6. Safety

Do not write real addresses, numbers or passwords on the slips — only kinds. If your child says something scares them — listen, and tell them they did well to tell you.

7. Where to go next

Next lesson: DB-IB-03 “How a Message Travels on the Internet” · Previous: DB-IB-01 “Passwords Even a Dragon Can't Guess”

You don't need to know the answer. Say: “Let's find out together.”