Tag Archives: Social networking

Smokescreen

Resource

www.smokescreengame.com

About

“You don’t know me, but I know you…”

“Smokescreen is a cutting-edge game about life online. We all use Facebook, MySpace, Bebo and MSN to keep up with our mates – and we’ve all heard the stories about parties on Facebook being mobbed, or people getting stalked on MSN. The question is, what would you do if it happened to you?

Over 13 missions, Smokescreen follows the story of Max Winston and Cal Godfrey, two mates who’ve set up an exclusive social network called White Smoke. After Cal’s involved in a car accident and falls into a coma, White Smoke becomes huge – and starts attracting huge problems. Each mission sees you explore the world of White Smoke, and find out who you can trust – and who you can’t.”

http://www.smokescreengame.com/about/

Impact

I used this with a group of S2 pupils, who were engrossed in the game from start to finish.  They found it easy to use and the discussions that came out of it where really positive.  It covers a lot of ground on the subject of Internet Safety and allows pupils to think about friendships and behaviour, both online and offline.

Challenges

Pupils need to sign up using an email account.  When we tried the site were having problems using hotmail email addresses, but when I emailed the site creators they offered to upload bulk accounts to get us started.  I used pupil Glow email accounts in the end.  We would ideally want to use the site with S1 pupils but would need to seek parental permission as the site is rated 13:

Smokescreen is aimed at teenagers, and is suitable for 13 year olds and above. In terms of strong language, Smokescreen is similar to a 12-rated movie in the UK or a PG-13 film in the US – in other words, there are some swear words (but no F-words).

Overall

I think my pupils appreciated the fact that this game was fairly realistic – others may see this as an issue?  We are still in discussion about using this site with S1 pupils from August, but would definitely recommend it, certainly with S2 upwards.

Alan Hamilton

Stirling High School

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