Principals & Teachers
The USA-SOS (Safe Online Surfing) Internet Challenge is a FREE, online, educational program available to public and private schools nationwide. Designed to meet federal and state internet safety mandates, students take web-based quizzes and complete an online Scavenger Hunt to learn important internet safety and cyber citizenship concepts. At the end of December and May, the USA-SOS National Trophy is awarded to those schools with the highest scoring students on the USA-SOS Post Quiz.
The program is easy to implement and starts over at the beginning of September and January, allowing teachers to work it into their curriculum when it is most appropriate.
Program Instructions:
Student Registration (approximately 15 minutes)
- Students register by clicking on the STUDENTS button at www.usa-sos.org.
- Each student must register accurately selecting his or her state, school and grade.
- Each student is to print the page with his or her username and password. The page should be cut it in half with one half kept by the teacher.
*The USA-SOS Internet Challenge, www.usa-sos.org, collects some technical information and holds each student's name in temporary memory until the registration process is complete. No student personal information is stored in the USA-SOS database or servers. To read the complete privacy policy, please click the link below.
Pre-Quiz (approximately 5 minutes)
- Students click the Pre-Quiz button, log in and take the Pre-Quiz before starting the Scavenger Hunt.
- Questions and answers do not become available until the Pre-Quiz is over as indicated by the end date in the student account.
- Upon completion of the Pre-Quiz and Post-Quiz, students MUST click the Log Out tab on the top of the page before the next person can use that computer for the USA-SOS program.
Scavenger Hunt (approximately 60 minutes)
- Students may begin the Scavenger Hunt anytime after completing the Pre-Quiz by clicking the Scavenger Hunt button and selecting their grade.
- Scavenger Hunt icons lead students to websites holding specific internet safety information.
- The Scavenger Hunt may be completed at school and/or at home, individually or in groups.
- Once the Scavenger Hunt is completed, students are ready to take the Post-Quiz.
Post-Quiz (approximately 5 minutes)
- The Post-Quiz may be accessed by clicking the "USA-SOS Post-Quiz" button under the "Students" section.
- Students log in using their assigned usernames passwords and click the “Take Quiz” button.
IMPORTANT: Student registration, Pre-Quiz, Scavenger Hunt, and Post-Quiz must all be completed between September and December or January and May.
Results and Awards
- To view individual and national results of the quizzes, click on “Student Results.”
- Results are updated every three hours.
- At the end of December and May, six trophies (one for each grade level) are awarded to the schools with the highest-scoring students on the Post-Quiz.
Note: Each participating student must have a signed parental consent form (sometimes called Internet Permission Form, Internet User Agreement and Parent Permission Form, or Acceptable Use form) on file at your school. These forms are generally provided by your school or school district. A general parental consent form is provided, if you do not currently have one for your school.
Click here for consent form (English Version).Click here for consent form (Spanish Version).
