The Bridge
The Bridge is an free education program for students in years 5 and 6 about the risks of online gaming.
Raising young peoples' awareness of the risks of online gaming can help protect them when they come into contact with gambling. Therefore, The Bridge was developed as a creative and engaging suite of lesson plans that highlight how video games use gambling-like features to keep kids playing and spending more than may be healthy. It caters for all teachers and students, regardless of their knowledge and experience of gaming.
The innovative program includes:
- Victorian curriculum links (levels 5 and 6)
- detailed lesson plans
- animated videos and kinaesthetic learning activities
- strategies for managing risks and keeping kids safe.
Download this page as an A4 brochure: PDF (1.3MB) or Word .docx (70KB).
What is 'The Bridge'?
‘The Bridge’ is the name of a fictitious online video game. Throughout the program, students follow the journey of a character named Helmette who becomes increasingly drawn into the game world of The Bridge at the cost of their time, relationships, and wellbeing.
What are the risks of online gaming?
Games can be fun, creative, and good for children’s emotional, social, and cognitive development. But gaming also comes with risks for young people.
The Bridge program’s whole-of-school approach helps kids, parents, carers, and teachers understand:
- how games can trick us into playing longer and spending more
- what gambling-like elements are in the games they play, such as loot boxes
- how gaming affects the brain and sometimes makes it hard to stop
- how excessive gaming can affect their health and wellbeing.
The Bridge teaching resources
The Bridge comprises four modules that follow the journey of a young person from healthy to unhealthy online gaming. Each module builds on the knowledge and skills of the previous one we recommend that the modules are taught in consecutive order.
MODULE 1
Physical and emotional responses to online gaming.
MODULE 3
Understanding the risks of unsafe gaming.
MODULE 2
How online games keep you playing and spending.
MODULE 4
Strategies for balancing safe gaming, self care and helping others.
About The Bridge
The Bridge is a Kids Thrive program, created in association with the Kids Thrive - Kids’ Big Ideas Lab and Altona North Primary School.
Kids Thrive is a leading social purpose organisation using creative approaches to foster child-led social change.
The Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation originally funded and helped finalise the development of The Bridge program. Additional support was received from Creative Victoria’s Creative Learning Partnerships program – a Victorian Government Initiative.
For more information contact: beaheadofthegame@health.vic.gov.au
