Too Good to Be True
Spotting the Chicken Shop trick online
A short lesson for Years 5 and 6 about staying sharp online. It takes about 10 minutes. You can hear every page read aloud, switch to simpler words, and go back any time. There are no timers and no wrong-answer penalties.
A short lesson about staying safe online. It takes about 10 minutes. You can hear each page read out loud, use simpler words, and go back any time. There are no timers. You cannot get told off for a wrong answer.
This is a working web-only demonstration produced by Options 4 Change. No personal data is collected: nothing you tap leaves this page.
This is a sample made by Options 4 Change. No personal information is collected. Nothing you tap leaves this page.
The lesson map
Three strands, built and tested with pupils and parents through co-design. This demonstration contains the first sample lesson only.
The full course has three parts. This sample has the first lesson only.
Strand 1 · Spotting the tricks
- 1Too Good to Be TrueTHIS LESSON (sample)
- Flattery and Fake FriendsFunded build
- Secrets and ScreenshotsFunded build
- Who Is Really Behind the Screen?Funded build
Strand 2 · Handling the pressure
- Group Chats and Peer PressureFunded build
- Money, Gifts and Game CreditsFunded build
- When Content Turns HarmfulFunded build
- Filmed, Shared, Sorry: thinking before you postFunded build
Strand 3 · Getting help and staying strong
- Asking for HelpFunded build
- Being a Good Digital FriendFunded build
- My Safety PlanFunded build
- Further lessons shaped by pupil and parent co-designTitles set with the young people
About this pilot
For twenty years, Options 4 Change has taught Lambeth children to spot the tricks used to draw them in. Our Chicken Shop lesson, praised by head teachers and used to train Lambeth's Youth Offending Team, does it in the classroom. This pilot takes that proven lesson online for the first time.
Options 4 Change has helped Lambeth children stay safe for twenty years. This pilot puts our best-known lesson online for the first time.
What you are looking at
One working sample lesson, built by us to show the format: our grooming-awareness content adapted for screens, a matched before-and-after check, and the first of the access features our pupils need, with every page read aloud, simpler words and bigger text. Try it. Nothing you tap is stored, and no personal data is collected.
One working sample lesson. You can try it. Nothing you tap is saved.
The build plan: what funding enables
- Co-design with our young people and parents. Every lesson is shaped in our existing peer-mentoring co-design sessions, the same process that demanded this curriculum in the first place. Some lesson titles are deliberately unset: the young people set them.
- The full three-strand curriculum. From spotting the tricks, through handling the pressure, to getting help and staying strong: the complete course this sample opens.
- Tested with the pupils who need it most. We pilot every lesson with a partner-school cohort, including pupils with special educational needs, and revise until it works for them. Accessibility is produced to WCAG 2.1 AA across every lesson, with recorded audio and validated simpler-language versions.
- An app built for the classroom. An installable app for the Android and Apple tablets and phones schools actually use, working offline where connectivity is poor, alongside the web.
- Results that direct support. Completion and matched before-and-after results flow securely and pseudonymously into our outcome-tracking dashboard, so caseworkers can see which pupils need targeted help. Never for profiling.
- Safe, compliant and supported. Data-protection impact assessment, school data agreements and safeguarding review, then a year of reliable hosted delivery and school-term support across approximately 240 pupils in our Lambeth partner schools.
The full build adds: all the lessons, made with pupils and parents; testing with the children who need it most; an app for tablets and phones; a progress dashboard; and a year of support.
Where this pilot is today, and where funding takes it
| Area | Today (this pilot) | With funding |
|---|---|---|
| Lessons | 1 sample | Full three-strand curriculum, co-designed with pupils and parents |
| Testing | Format proven | Pupil-tested and revised with a partner-school cohort, including SEN pupils |
| Accessibility | First-version read-aloud and simpler words | WCAG 2.1 AA production across every lesson |
| Results | Shown to the pupil, stored nowhere | Secure pseudonymous completion and pre/post results in our outcome dashboard |
| Platform | Web page | Installable Android and Apple app plus web, with offline use |
| Compliance | No data, none needed | DPIA, school data agreements, safeguarding review |
| Support | Demonstration only | A year of hosted delivery, maintenance and school-term support |
The content is already proven in person: the workshops this curriculum digitises reached around 316 participants, with 300 parents and children increasing their understanding of these risks. The format is now proven online, on this page. Funding turns both into a curriculum every child in the cohort can use.
No personal data is collected anywhere in this demonstration. Options 4 Change · Registered charity 1162000.
Before we start
First, three quick questions. There are no marks. This just helps us see what you already know.
First, three quick questions. There are no marks. This just helps us see what you already know.
Answer all three to carry on. There are no marks.
The message
Stop for a second. How does this message want you to FEEL? Excited? Special? Rushed? That's not an accident. In our Chicken Shop lesson at school, we learned how free chips and compliments can be used to draw you in. Online, the trick is exactly the same. Only the chips are game credits.
Stop for a second. How does this message want you to feel? Excited? Special? In a rush? That is not an accident. In our Chicken Shop lesson at school, we learned how free chips and nice words can be used to pull you in. Online it is the same trick. This time the chips are game credits.
FREE STUFF
If a stranger offers you something free, they usually want something back. They just haven't told you what yet.
If someone you don't know offers you something free, they usually want something back. They just have not told you what yet.
"FREE credits, just for you!"
FLATTERY
"You're so talented, you're special, you're not like the others." Compliments from strangers are the hook, not the truth.
"You're so good. You're special. You're not like the others." Nice words from strangers are the bait, not the truth.
"I picked you specially."
SECRECY
"Don't tell anyone" is the biggest warning sign there is. People who mean well never need you to keep them secret.
"Don't tell anyone" is the biggest warning sign of all. People who are kind never need you to keep them a secret.
"It's just between us. 🤫"
URGENCY
"Say YES now!" Rushing you is a trick to stop you thinking. Anything real can wait while you check with someone you trust.
"Say yes now!" Rushing you is a trick to stop you thinking. Anything real can wait while you check with someone you trust.
"Right now, or someone else gets it."
Spot it
Your turn. Read each message and tap: Green = fine · Amber = be careful · Red = warning sign.
Your turn. Read each message and tap: Green means fine. Amber means be careful. Red means warning.
Message 1 of 5
The rule: PAUSE. DON'T REPLY. TELL.
If a message gives you that uneasy feeling, or uses free stuff, flattery, secrets or hurry, you don't have to work it out alone. Pause. Don't reply. Tell a trusted adult.
If a message gives you an uneasy feeling, or uses free stuff, nice words, secrets or hurry, you do not have to work it out alone. Pause. Don't reply. Tell a trusted adult.
Who are YOUR trusted adults? Tap two.
This choice stays on this page. It is not saved or sent anywhere.
Quick recap
The four tricks: Free stuff · Flattery · Secrecy · Urgency. The rule: Pause. Don't reply. Tell a trusted adult. You can't control what strangers send. You CAN control what happens next.
The four tricks: Free stuff, Flattery, Secrecy, Urgency. The rule: Pause. Don't reply. Tell a trusted adult. You can't control what strangers send. You can control what you do next.
- Free stuff
- Flattery
- Secrecy
- Urgency
One more time
Same three questions. Let's see what changed.
The same three questions. Let's see what changed.
Answer all three to see your results.
Your before and after
| Question | Your first answer | Your answer now |
|---|
You spotted 0 of 5 messages right first time.
This matched before-and-after check is how the funded programme measures learning: in the full build, results feed Options 4 Change's outcome dashboard pseudonymously, so caseworkers can see completion and progress, never for profiling.
This before-and-after check is how the funded programme measures learning. In the full build, results feed the Options 4 Change dashboard without names, so caseworkers can see who finished and how they did. It is never used for profiling.