All activities Professional learning
Teachers and staff learn, in plain language, what AI deepfake image abuse actually is, what the law now requires, and how to respond if a student discloses, so the adult a student turns to first knows exactly what to do.
When a student is targeted by a fabricated nude image, they often tell a teacher, coach, or librarian first, not an administrator. That adult's response in the next five minutes shapes everything. This session prepares every staff member, not just the crisis team, to meet that moment well. Participants learn in plain language what non-consensual AI deepfake images are (image-based sexual abuse, not a prank), what the 2025 federal Take It Down Act and mandatory-reporting duties require of them, and the line they must not cross: never view, forward, or store the material, and never try to handle it quietly themselves. Most of the time goes to practicing a calm, trauma-informed, non-judgmental response to a disclosure, believe the student, make clear it is not their fault, protect them from exposure, and move it immediately to the right people. The stance is supportive and clear-eyed: this is abuse, the adult's job is to support and report, and knowing the line protects both the student and the staff member.
Hook
Pose the situation: a student lingers after class and says, quietly, that a fake, sexual image of them, made with an app, is being passed around. Ask: "What do you say in the next thirty seconds?" Let a few answer. Note the range, from perfect to accidentally harmful, and explain that today everyone gets a reliable first response, because students usually disclose to the adult they trust, not to the office.
Facilitator noteThis lands hard; keep it caring and matter-of-fact. The reassurance is that they won't have to improvise, there's a clear, humane script and a clear line.
Explore
Table groups read Handout A: what these images are (AI-fabricated sexual images of a real person, created without consent, which is image-based sexual abuse and can be a crime, including when the target is a minor); what the 2025 Take It Down Act requires of platforms; and staff duties, you are almost certainly a mandatory reporter. Then the line: never view more than you stumble into, never forward or download it, never store it, never investigate it yourself or promise to keep it secret. Groups restate the line in their own words.
Facilitator noteThe two hardest instincts to override: viewing/forwarding "to see how bad it is," and promising secrecy. Name both explicitly; both harm the student and the staff member.
Practice
Using Handout B cards, pairs role-play a disclosure: one is the student, one the staff member. The staff member practices the four beats, believe ("I'm really glad you told me"), not your fault ("This was done to you; you did nothing wrong"), protect ("We'll keep you safe and I won't share this"), and hand off ("I have to tell the people who can help stop it, here's who and what happens next"). Swap roles and try harder variations (the student begs them to keep it secret; the student blames themselves). Debrief what helped and what accidentally stung.
Facilitator noteThe secrecy-plea card is the crucial rep. Staff must learn to be warm AND honest: "I care about you too much to keep this secret, and here's exactly what I'll do."
Apply
On Handout C, each participant writes their actual, specific report path, the named person to tell, where they are, the backup if that person is unavailable, and the exact words they'll use to hand off. They note what they will and won't put in writing, and confirm they will not store any image. This turns a policy into a card they could follow under stress.
Facilitator noteInsist on real names and numbers, not "tell an administrator." Under stress people follow concrete steps; vague ones evaporate.
Reflect
Close on prevention through relationship: on Handout C, each participant names one thing about their classroom that makes a student willing to come to them, and one thing they'll strengthen. Land the point: the best protection is a student who knows a trusted adult will respond with care, not blame, and an adult who knows the line and the path by heart.
Facilitator noteConnect to the ELEs: safe, inclusive climate and strong relationships aren't soft extras, they're what makes disclosure, and therefore protection, possible.
The session is fully unplugged and deliberately handles no images: plain-language facts, spoken role-play, and a written report path. This keeps the focus on human response and keeps everyone away from harmful material.
Display your district's actual mandatory-reporting and child-safety policy and your campus's named contacts so participants copy real, current information onto their report path. No image or search is ever involved.
Does it need a screen? Intentionally unplugged, the learning is a human first response and a memorized report path; a device would add nothing and could invite contact with material no one should view or store. Screens appear only to surface accurate local policy.
What you should be able to see or collect if it worked.
Staff learn what AI deepfake image abuse is, their mandatory-reporting duty and the line not to cross, and rehearse a calm, trauma-informed response to a student disclosure.
Each staff member keeps their completed report path somewhere findable and, within a week, does one thing to strengthen the classroom trust that makes disclosure possible. The campus confirms the leadership tabletop (companion activity) is scheduled so staff response and leadership response connect.
