Professional learning · Leaders, Staff · 75 minutes
When It Happens Here
A leadership team rehearses, calmly and before a crisis, how to respond when a student is targeted by a non-consensual AI deepfake image, putting the student's safety first and knowing the law, the reports, and the takedown steps cold.
AI tools that fabricate realistic nude images of real people have reached schools, and students, mostly girls, are being targeted by classmates. When it happens, the first hour matters, and a team that improvises causes more harm. This tabletop lets a leadership team rehearse the response before a real incident, so the moves are practiced, not panicked. Teams work a fictional, non-graphic scenario and decide, in order: how to support and protect the targeted student first, how to preserve evidence without re-sharing it, who must be reported to (law enforcement, child-protection authorities, and the federal reporting line for exploitation of minors), how the 2025 federal Take It Down Act supports rapid removal, what the discipline and due-process path is, and how to communicate with families and the community without naming victims or amplifying the material. The tone throughout is trauma-informed and non-sensational: this is image-based sexual abuse, not a prank, and the team's job is to treat it that way while protecting every student's dignity.
In this packet
- Handout A: The Scenario + Response Sequence (worksheet)
- Handout B: Reports, Preservation, and the Law (reading)
- Handout C: Communication Without Harm (worksheet)
TCEA ELE indicators
- L4.1 I know how to create a positive and inclusive digital learning climate.
- L5.2 I can effectively use digital communication tools to share school goals and achievements with stakeholders.
- L4.2 I can develop policies that support equitable access to technology and digital resources.
- AI2.1 I know how to apply ethical principles when using or developing AI for education.
Full facilitator guide: mglearn.github.io/eles/activities/when-it-happens-here.html
Handout A for When It Happens Here
The Scenario + Response Sequence
Work the steps IN ORDER. The content is handled abstractly, no image is ever shown, created, or described in detail. Record your decision and any gap at each step.
SCENARIO: On a Friday evening, a parent calls: a fabricated nude image of their 8th-grader, made with an app and spread in a group chat, is circulating among students. STEP 1 — SUPPORT THE STUDENT FIRST: What do we do in the first hour to keep this student safe, supported, and free from retaliation, and to make clear it is not their fault?
STEP 2 — PRESERVE, DON'T SPREAD: How do we document what and where (dates, platforms, who reported) WITHOUT downloading, forwarding, viewing beyond necessity, or storing the image on school devices?
STEP 3 — REPORT: Who must we notify (law enforcement, child-protective services, the national reporting line for exploitation of minors)? Who makes each call?
STEP 4 — REMOVAL: What takedown requests do we initiate, and how does the Take It Down Act support rapid platform removal?
STEP 5 — DISCIPLINE & DUE PROCESS: Following policy and Title IX, how do we address those responsible fairly, after the victim is safe?
STEP 6 — WIDER COMMUNITY: What support and guidance do other affected students and staff need?
Handout B for When It Happens Here
Reports, Preservation, and the Law
Read before working the sequence. This is background, not legal advice, verify specifics with district counsel and local law enforcement.
1What it is: Creating or sharing a sexual image of a real person without consent is image-based sexual abuse. When the image is an AI-generated fake (a deepfake) of a minor, it is still unlawful, and it is not a prank. Treating it as abuse, not teasing, shapes every step that follows.
2The Take It Down Act (federal, 2025): This law makes it a crime to knowingly share non-consensual intimate images, including AI-generated deepfakes, and requires covered online platforms to remove such images, and copies, after a valid report, within a short, legally set window. It gives victims and schools a concrete lever to get material taken down quickly.
3Reporting is mandatory, not optional: School employees are typically mandatory reporters. Suspected sexual abuse or exploitation of a child generally must be reported to law enforcement and to child-protective authorities. Material that depicts a minor should be reported to the national exploitation reporting line and handled by law enforcement, not investigated or stored by school staff.
4Preserve without spreading: Record the facts, what was reported, when, on which platforms, and by whom, but do not download, forward, print, or circulate the image, even to investigate. Never save it on school devices or accounts. Let law enforcement handle the material itself.
5Victim first: The student targeted is a victim of abuse. Protect them from retaliation and exposure, connect them to counseling, and make clear, repeatedly, that this is not their fault. Avoid any action (interviews, assemblies, messages) that re-exposes or identifies them.
6Takedown help for families: Free services exist to help remove intimate images of minors from participating platforms. Point families to report to the platform and to the national reporting line, and offer to help them navigate the process.
Handout C for When It Happens Here
Communication Without Harm
Draft each message. Rules: never name or identify the victim, never describe or link the material, don't sensationalize, say plainly that this is abuse and is being handled, and tell people what to do.
TO THE TARGETED STUDENT'S FAMILY: support offered, steps underway, and who their single point of contact is:
TO THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY: de-identified, non-sensational, states it's being taken seriously and names the behavior as abuse:
TO STAFF: what to do if a student reports or shows them such an image (don't view/forward/store; report to [role]; support the student):
WHAT FAMILIES SHOULD DO if their child has seen or received the image (don't share, report it, tell a trusted adult, delete after reporting as directed):
De-identification check: does any message include a detail (grade, team, class, timing) that could identify the victim? Fix it here: