Building Self-Efficacy Through Communication: Toothpaste Social Media Safety
Part of our teaching curriculum is communication where girls learn to communicate online and in person and expand their networks. Communication is also one of our Six Cs that work together to create self-efficacy.
Social media is a powerful tool that helps us connect with others and spread positivity! All of our social media activity creates what we call a digital footprint-- a word used to describe the trail, trace, or “footprint” that you leave online. Our digital footprint grows with every picture we post, Snapchat we send, and TikTok we create. The toothpaste activity will help us understand the importance of being thoughtful and responsible online, because it has the power to affect our future!
Do It With Us By Watching Our YouTube Video
Materials Needed: For this activity, you will need a tube of toothpaste and a piece of paper!
Let’s Put Our Toothpaste and Paper in Front of Us
First, Squeeze the bottle of toothpaste onto a piece of paper after naming an activity you did on social media within the past week (for example: posted a picture, posted a status, liked a photo, commented on a photo, sent a snapchat, posted a TikTok, etc.)
You’ll probably more than likely squeeze out all of the toothpaste in the tube! I know I would be!
Now, put all of the toothpaste back into the tube with none left outside of it.
It’s impossible, right?! There is no way you can put the toothpaste back in the tube!
The toothpaste represents what happens once you put something out there online whether it be a text, post, comment, snapchat, etc. Just like putting the toothpaste back into the tube, it is impossible to take back what we put online.
How do you think this could affect you and what you post online? What if you delete something?
You can try to delete it, but someone might have already seen it, screenshotted it, and/or shared it, plus the internet stores things even after they’ve been deleted.
Do you think what you post today could affect your future?
Even though you can probably put a little of the toothpaste back into the tube, it is not the same. Posts can affect your safety, college applications, and jobs now and later down the road.
Share On Social
Share in your own words what you learned to someone within your home, or with an adult’s permission, share on your social media and tag Girls Empowerment Network. Then, challenge your friends to do the same! #VirtualSpark
Download Toothpaste Social Media Safety