How can you tell they’ve got it: Vocabulary: ethics and citizenship?

If they’ve got it, you’ll see things like: Explain what 'ethics' means in their own words and give an example of an ethical dilemma; Use 'citizen', 'rights', and 'responsibilities' correctly — e.g. 'A citizen has the right to vote and the responsibility to follow laws'; Define 'consent' and 'integrity' and explain why they matter in relationships and online behaviour. Or just try it together: If your child saw someone being treated unkindly online and you asked them about it, could they explain the difference between being a bystander and an upstander — and what 'digital citizenship' means?

Personal & Social Development Responsible Decision-Making Ages 7–11

Vocabulary: ethics and citizenship

Your child can use words like bystander and upstander. They can explain what it means to be kind and safe online.

In curriculum terms

Know and use the vocabulary of ethics and citizenship — bullying, cyberbullying, bystander, upstander, peer pressure, digital citizenship, rights, responsibility, and ethical — and understand the distinctions between these closely related terms

Ages are typical, not deadlines — follow your child’s pace. How to help at home →

How to tell they’ve got it

Tick these off as you see them — no test required.

Explain what 'ethics' means in their own words and give an example of an ethical dilemma
Use 'citizen', 'rights', and 'responsibilities' correctly — e.g. 'A citizen has the right to vote and the responsibility to follow laws'
Define 'consent' and 'integrity' and explain why they matter in relationships and online behaviour

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Try this together

If your child saw someone being treated unkindly online and you asked them about it, could they explain the difference between being a bystander and an upstander — and what 'digital citizenship' means?

Where this sits on the map

Stuck here? Check the skills it builds on first. Confident? Here’s what it unlocks.

Builds on

Nothing on the map comes before this — it’s a starting point.

Vocabulary: ethics and citizenshipthis skill · ages 7–11

Unlocks

Basic digital citizenshipages 7–9Digital citizenship as a concept requires knowing the term and vocabulary of 'rights', 'responsibility', and 'ethical'

Bystanders and Upstandersages 7–9The bystander/upstander distinction is entirely vocabulary-dependent — these specific terms must be taught first

Understanding Bullyingages 7–9Understanding bullying requires precise vocabulary distinguishing bullying types including 'cyberbullying'

Community Rights and Responsibilitiesages 9–11Rights and responsibilities as a framework requires precise vocabulary distinguishing these two related concepts

Peer Pressure and Resisting Itages 9–11Peer pressure as a concept requires knowing the term 'peer pressure' and vocabulary of 'rights' and 'responsibility'

Stop, Think, Then Chooseages 7–9Decision-making process applies vocabulary of 'ethical', 'consequence', and 'responsibility'

solid = must come firstdashed = helps

Curriculum alignment

Where this fits in the official school curriculum — our best automated guess, not yet checked by a person.

Show candidate curriculum codes · 3 VIC

Australian Curriculum v9 candidate

This skill sits outside the F–6 Australian Curriculum — no candidate code matched (v0.1).

Victorian Curriculum 2.0 codes & levels only

VC2HC6K07high confidenceCivics and Citizenship · Levels 5 and 6 · Knowledge and Understanding strand

VC2HC4S05low confidenceCivics and Citizenship · Levels 3 and 4 · Skills strand

VC2HC6S07low confidenceCivics and Citizenship · Levels 5 and 6 · Skills strand

These are candidate alignments generated by semantic matching — machine-suggested and unreviewed (v0.1), not official or verified mappings. For official curriculum content see australiancurriculum.edu.au, curriculum.nsw.edu.au and f10.vcaa.vic.edu.au. Don’t rely on them for registration or compliance purposes.

Nearby on the map

Basic digital citizenshipages 7–9 Bystanders and Upstandersages 7–9 Stop, Think, Then Chooseages 7–9 Understanding Bullyingages 7–9

All Responsible Decision-Making skills →