Virginia's Phone-Free Schools: Ethics Lessons on Social Media and AI
Virginia's push for phone-free schools began with Executive Order 33 in July 2024, and with phones out of the room, students can finally talk about what those phones do to them. The Middle School Ethics Curriculum gives Grades 6–9 ten discussion-based units, including influencers and social media, cyberbullying and AI responsibility, alongside justice, conscience and moral courage.
Explore the ten ethics unitsVirginia's Executive Order 33, signed July 9, 2024, set the state on the path to phone-free schools. If you want lessons that help students think about phones, feeds and AI rather than just put them away, the Middle School Ethics Curriculum ($119.99) has ten Grades 6–9 units. Three deal directly with digital life: Influencers and Social Media, Cyberbullying and Hate Speech, and AI and Responsibility. The other seven cover broader ethical questions.
The resources
Middle School Ethics Curriculum, Grades 6–9
10 resources in one download: $119.99 instead of $249.90 bought separately.
Start with the first resource; the others are optional add-ons. Open any cover for the full contents and price.
Middle School Ethics Curriculum | Justice, Conscience, Freedom, Digital Life & Climate | 10 Units | Grades 6–9
Civics & Civil Rights Bundle | Martin Luther King Jr., Voting, Direct Democracy & Freedom of the Press | 4 Resources | Grades 5–9
Digital Citizenship Activities | Cyberbullying, AI, Social Media & Media Literacy Lessons | Grades 7–10
AI & Cybersecurity Units Bundle | How AI Works, Prompting, Phishing, Encryption & Data Privacy | 6 Units | Grades 6–9
The real problem
Taking phones away does not answer the questions
Executive Order 33, issued on July 9, 2024, moved Virginia schools toward keeping cell phones out of the school day. As of the 2026–27 school year, middle school teachers work in buildings where the rule is part of daily routine. Removing the device, though, leaves the bigger questions untouched. Students still spend their evenings on feeds shaped by influencers. They still see group chats turn cruel, and they now use AI tools for homework and fun without much thought about who is responsible for what those tools produce. A phone-free classroom is actually a good place to discuss all of this, because no one is half-listening while scrolling. The difficulty is that most teachers were never trained to lead ethics discussions. Advisory, character education and social studies teachers get these conversations handed to them with little structure, and an open-ended talk about social media can drift into complaints or lectures. Students need a clear question, a short text or case to think with, and a reason to justify their view. Teachers need lessons that keep a discussion focused and fair, especially on topics where students feel strongly.
Why it fits
Units that use the phone-free hour well
The curriculum is built for structured discussion. Here is how its units connect to the reasons Virginia schools went phone-free.
- Influencers and Social Media asks who students follow, why, and what those accounts are selling.
- Cyberbullying and Hate Speech gives a framework for talking about cruelty online without naming classmates.
- AI and Responsibility asks who answers for what an AI tool produces or gets wrong.
- Justice and Fairness, Conscience and Moral Decisions, and Freedom and Responsibility supply the reasoning tools.
- Prejudice, Discrimination and Moral Courage connects online behavior to standing up for others offline.
- Climate ethics, fast fashion and happiness units round out a full year of discussion topics.
Getting started
One way to sequence the ten units
This plan front-loads the reasoning units so digital topics have something to stand on. Rearrange it for advisory or a semester elective.
- Open with fairness and conscienceBegin with Justice and Fairness, then Conscience and Moral Decisions. Students practice giving a reason for a view and listening to someone who disagrees, which every later unit needs.
- Add freedom and responsibilityFreedom and Responsibility prepares the ground for digital topics. Students weigh what they are free to post against what they owe to others, before any app comes up.
- Turn to social media and influencersTeach Influencers and Social Media next. With phones put away under your school's rules, students talk about their feeds from memory and reflection, which often makes the discussion more honest.
- Handle cyberbullying and AIFollow with Cyberbullying and Hate Speech, then AI and Responsibility. Set ground rules first so no real student or incident is named during discussion, and keep the focus on reasons.
- Close with wider questionsFinish with Prejudice and Moral Courage, Happiness and a Good Life, climate ethics and fast fashion. Students apply the same reasoning skills to topics outside the screen.
What to buy
Ethics curriculum or a smaller digital set
The Middle School Ethics Curriculum at $119.99 gives you all ten units; bought separately, they cost $249.90. If you only want the digital topics, the Digital Citizenship Activities ($69.99) have four units and 12 lessons on cyberbullying, influencers, AI and fast fashion for Grades 7–10. For a more technical view of AI and online safety, the AI & Cybersecurity Units Bundle ($89.99, parts $149.94) covers how AI works, phishing and encryption. Social studies teachers can add the Civics & Civil Rights Bundle ($54.99, parts $79.96) on Martin Luther King Jr., voting and freedom of the press.
Honest limits
Points to check before you buy
The units were not written for Virginia. They do not mention Executive Order 33 or any Virginia phone policy, and they contain no Virginia Standards of Learning codes, so compare the content with the SOL and your division's guidance yourself. Discussion topics like cyberbullying need your own classroom norms and judgment; you know your students. Printing and any extra examples come from you. The licence covers your own teaching, so message Teach Lessons first if a team or school wants to share it. If the curriculum is not a fit, exchange it within 7 days for store credit of equal value, not a cash refund.
Good to know
Frequently asked questions
Does this curriculum match Virginia's standards or phone policy?
No. It is not aligned with, endorsed by or approved by the Virginia Department of Education, the Standards of Learning or any school division, and it is not part of any Executive Order 33 guidance. It is a set of ethics discussion units for Grades 6–9. Check it against the SOL and your division's expectations yourself.
Can I teach the digital units without student phones?
Yes. The units are discussion-based lessons with printable material, so students talk and write about social media and AI from their own experience. Nothing requires a device. In a phone-free room, that keeps attention on the conversation rather than on a screen, and students can bring in examples from memory instead of pulling up posts.
How do I keep a cyberbullying discussion safe?
Set ground rules before the unit: no real names, no screenshots, and no stories about classmates. The unit gives the discussion a structure and a question to work on, which keeps it from turning personal. Let your counselor know when you plan to teach it, in case a student needs follow-up.
Which classes is this best for?
The curriculum suits ethics, character education, advisory and social studies teachers in Grades 6–9. An advisory teacher could spread single units across the year, one every few weeks, while an ethics or elective course could run all ten units in sequence as a semester or full-year plan.
How is this different from the Digital Citizenship Activities?
The Middle School Ethics Curriculum has ten units, three on digital life and seven on wider ethical questions like justice, conscience and climate. The Digital Citizenship Activities focus only on digital and consumer topics, with four units and 12 lessons for Grades 7–10. Choose the curriculum if you want the reasoning units too.
When can I start using it?
Right away. The download link comes by email after purchase, and the files stay in your account under Orders. If you find within 7 days that the units do not suit your students, you can exchange the purchase for store credit of equal value and choose a different set of units.
Use the phone-free hour to talk about phones
Ten ethics units for Grades 6–9, three of them on social media, cyberbullying and AI. See every unit on the curriculum page.
Explore the ten ethics units