Creating a Strong Password: Two Infographics for Your Students

What makes a password strong? Why is it important? How can students create one? These are key questions when teaching cybersecurity awareness in the classroom. We’re sharing two infographics to help students understand this crucial topic.

Educating children about online safety is essential. It helps them recognize the risks of sharing personal information on the internet. This is especially relevant when Edifice’s virtual learning environments (VLEs), which serve as a great introduction to cybersecurity principles.

A virtual learning environment is a secure platform that requires students to create and use a password to log in. When setting up their accounts, students will need to come up with a strong password. This is the perfect opportunity to teach them what passwords are and the best practices for keeping them secure. It’s also a way to encourage responsibility, helping them understand their role in protecting their personal information and how they can take steps to enhance their online security.

Infographic: “My Strong, Secret Password”

“As a teacher, you play a key role in raising students’ awareness of digital security. You can help them develop good habits and think critically about online risks,” explains Donald Koffi, Chief Information Security Officer at Édifice.

This simple infographic breaks down password best practices for students. You can display it in your classroom, print and distribute copies to students (and even their parents), or share it digitally via the VLE.

How to introduce password security to primary school students

The concept of passwords can be introduced in a fun and accessible way using simple metaphors — for example, comparing a password to a house key or a treasure chest code to explain that passwords are like secret codes that protect personal information.

Encourage students to share their experiences and knowledge about passwords through open discussion. Ask questions to understand what they already know, clarify common misconceptions, and guide them toward strong password practices.

What not to do when creating a password

A strong password should be impossible to guess, which means avoiding:

·      Personal information, like pet names, nicknames, birthdates, or other details that might be easy to find.

·      Predictable sequences like “12345678” or “abcdefg”.

·      The worse password of all—“password” (yes, people still use it!).

A simple trick for creating a strong, memorable password

A strong password should be long and include uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters like !@#$%. One easy trick to create and remember a strong password is to use a passphrase, or a sentence that is easy to recall, with added special characters. For example:
“My grandma’s pancakes are the best in the world” would be “MgPbtW!”
“Take a sad song and make it better” would be “TasS&MiB”

You can also replace letters with numbers or special characters to make it even more secure:
“I love eating pizza at 3 AM” would be “ILovePizza@3AM!”
“Old MacDonald had a farm” would be “0MDhaF#”

Infographic: “The Passphrase Technique”

Our passphrase infographic, designed by cybersecurity expert Donald Koffi, is perfect for middle and high school students:

Why you should use a unique password for every account

It’s crucial to have a different password for each platform or application. Cybercriminals often steal passwords from less secure websites and try to use them elsewhere. One way to manage multiple strong passwords is by using a password manager, a tool that securely stores and organizes passwords, so you don’t have to memorize them all.

Protecting personal information

For younger students, forgetting passwords can be a common issue. Instead of writing them on easily lost pieces of paper, they should ask a trusted adult for help. Students also need to understand the importance of keeping passwords private. Otherwise, someone else could alter their profile or post content in their name.

This is a great opportunity to talk about online privacy. Use real-life examples to emphasize the importance of protecting personal information. Another key habit to tech: logging out of shared computers or school tablets at the end of each session to prevent unauthorized access.