Do you know the latest songs your students listen to? Did you know that you could relate some of them to cyberbullying?
Take Meghan Trainor’s latest single, for instance, a song that probably played on your way to work. It contains some lyrics that might just make your lessons about online harrassment more effective.
Why You Should Incorporate Music in Your Lesson
Songs are a fantastic way to help students work on different elements of learning, for many reasons.
Scientifically, music stimulates the mind. Students usually sit at their desks for the entire day, completely bored and waiting for the bell to ring. Adding a catchy song into your lesson plan is a great way to change the learning environment, get your students active and have fun at the same time. Combine that with your lessons about the dangers of online predators and you will get your students to focus better by keeping a catchy tune in their head.
More and more schoolteachers find their students affected by cyber exploitation, both in the classroom and outside the classroom. Furthermore, it helps your students remember to use the tactics you teach when they come across strange messages online. This concept has already worked in the past with subjects like math and English, so why not incorporate it into lessons about cyber exploitation?
Say “No” to Strangers Online (with Meghan Trainor):
Looking back to when you were growing up as a teenager, you probably remember being told, “Don’t talk to strangers.” Nowadays, because anyone can interact with others anonymously, you never know if they can be trusted. As a result, we usually teach students to never give out their personal information online…
And, although it is used for a different purpose, this is what Meghan Trainor says in her 2016 single, “No.”
Here are the lyrics to one of the more ‘catchy’ parts of the song:
Nah to the ah to the no, no, no
My name is NO
My sign is NO
My number is NO
You need to let it go, you need to let it go
Need to let it go
Nah to the ah to the no, no, no
(Fast-forward to 0:26.)
What Meghan Trainor’s “No” Has to Do with Internet Safety
Originally, the song responds to the unwanted attention and harassment that women receive from men. However, you can put a different spin on the song and use it to send a message about online harassment. In essence, you can write the song’s lyrics and hand them out for your students to recite with you.
An example of how you could use the song could be to have your students recite these lyrics:
Nah to the ah to the no, no, no
My name is NO
My number is NO
My handle is NO
You need to let it go, I don’t want you to know
Don’t want you to know
Of course, because the lyrics have changed, you will need an instrumental version of the song, which we have provided for you in the video below. (Fast-forward to 0:36.)
Again, this is just an example. If you want to get creative, you can add different words for the entire song, or use a different song entirely, like this American teacher did with Beyonce’s song, “Formation.”
Recap:
Cyber safety is becoming a more prominent issue year after year, and teachers need to be able to engage with their students on the issue. Reinterpreting a song such as Meghan Trainor’s “No” can send a positive message, while also give your students something to remember. Most importantly, it shows that you can make learning fun and enjoyable.
Say “No” to online harassment and cyber exploitation!