By Years 5–6, friendships, peer approval and reputation matter more, and ākonga can face teasing, exclusion, unkind comments and online conflict. Without clear, age-appropriate strategies, students may 'soak up' harm and carry it, or react in ways that escalate the situation and make them more likely to be targeted again. Schools need a practical way to build self-respect, resilience and help-seeking—without expecting students to just put up with harmful behaviour.
Standing Up For Myself is a Netsafe cyberbullying prevention session that helps ākonga practise safe, effective ways to protect their wellbeing and mana. It uses a simple metaphor to compare different responses, supports students to identify strategies that reduce harm, and reinforces when to involve trusted adults and use online safety tools (like blocking, saving evidence and reporting). Part of the Netsafe Cyberbullying Prevention Toolkit.
This session
Theme: Build resilience and self-respect by exploring safe strategies to stand up for yourself, using the Duck and Sponge metaphor to choose responses, reduce harm, and seek support when needed.
Learning outcomes: In this session, students will learn to:
- Explain the duck and sponge metaphor for coping with hurtful behaviour
- Identify safe and effective strategies for standing up for themselves
- Build confidence in self-respect and resilience
Activities:
- Class activity, 5 mins: Attitude continuum
- Class activity, 10 mins: Duck and sponge demonstration
- Individual, small group and whole class activity, 10 mins: Strategy bank
- Small group activity, 10 mins: Duck and sponge Strategy Cards — PDF template to print, cut up, and distribute
- Individual reflection, 5 mins: Duck and sponge in real life
- Exit ticket, 5 mins: Share learnings verbally, popcorn-style
- Extensions:
- Duck challenge
- Tuakana Teina
Key messages:
- Standing up for yourself means respecting yourself and choosing safe ways to respond.
- You can choose whether to be a duck (let it roll off) or a sponge (soak it up and get weighed down).
- Individuals who bully often want a reaction - not giving away your power makes them less likely to continue.
- Safe strategies include ignoring, blocking, screenshotting, reporting, or telling someone you trust.
- Asking for help is a strong and smart choice.
Classroom resources:
- Slide deck: Standing up for myself
- PDF handout: Duck/Sponge posters
- PDF: Strategy Cards
Teacher support:
- Facilitator guide – with context, research, and learning progression.
- Activity plan – with step by step instructions.
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Related Tools and Resources
Cyberbullying Prevention session for Years 5-6. Students understand choices, practice positive responses, and learn where to get help.
A Cyberbullying Prevention session for Years 5-6, to help students sport cyberbullying early and practice safe bystander responses.
- Year 5-6
- Year 7-8
- Year 9-11
- Year 12-13
- Cyberbullying
- 20-40 per session
The Student Spark Kits help teachers support ākonga to lead practical actions that make their school communities kinder and safer - both online and offline. Part of the Cyberbullying Prevention Toolkit.