“How many of you have a cellphone?” Assistant principal at Chestermere High, Brent Legault, asks a gym full of high school students before the beginning of an Internet safety assembly. In reply, almost every student at Chestermere High raises his or her hand. This simple demonstration showed how many kids are currently involved with technology and social media. The ever-expanding use of the Internet can be the best and worse thing in a person’s life, but to ensure that the experience is safe, speaker Kathy MacDonald was asked to come speak at high school on February 25th.
A former Calgary police officer of 25 years, MacDonald now works for Youth Link Calgary Police Interpretive Centre; a program whose goal is to educate youth about the consequences of crime online as well as in real life.
MacDonald shared with the students some facts about online safety with youth, such as how 39% of people believe that their activity online is private, 29% have posted mean comments, photos, or spread rumors, and 38% of kids would be offended if their parents were spying on their online activity. “Although I am not a huge advocate for parental spying,” says MacDonald, “I do feel that having rules that the entire family can abide by is very important to ensure every member of the family is on the same page.” A suggestion she shared with the students is creating a technology rule chart, where usage times could be laid out for everyone to understand and where certain restrictions could also be put into place. Cyber-bullying has become an increasing issue with the emergence of social media networking sites such as Facebook, and Twitter. 1 in 4 people have been personally victimized over social networking, or know of a victim. In other studies, it has been shown that 25% of youth have admitted to taking part in cyber-bullying, 95% of them meant it as a joke, and only 5% of them admitted their motive was to harm their target. There has also been recent controversy over the actuality of cyber-bullying, with beliefs that kids should delete their accounts or, “close the computer screen.” MacDonald refutes this statement by saying, “Having the same hurtful thing sent your way over and over again leaves emotional and mental scarring.” If you, or anyone you know is being cyber-bullied, there are many ways that you can get help. Gather evidence by ‘screenshotting’ (taking a picture of your phone screen or computer screen), or printing hurtful messages for hard-copy reference. Always remember to seek the help of an adult, whether that is your parents, guardians, teacher, guidance counselor, or trusted member of the community.
MacDonald also asked students to be cautious with what they chose to post on the Internet. “Remember that employers, even university admission, wants to know exactly whom they are hiring,” she says, “think to yourself: What does this picture say about me? Do I want the world to see this photo?” Do not be fooled, anonymity does not exist on the Internet. There are many ways that people can get around security measures to find out who is posting what. The next day, schools across the country participated in Pink Shirt Day. In 2007, Nova Scotian David Shepherd and Travis Price purchased 50 shirts and handed them out amongst their friends in the effort to stick up to the bullies who made fun of a boy who had worn a pink shirt to school earlier that day. The movement spread, and on February 25th, 2009, Pink Shirt Day was declared a provincial anti-bullying day. Kids came to school in pink shirts, or sporting whatever pink item they could in support of an anti-bullying life. With increasing support, people can work together to diminish acts of bullying by providing a supportive network of people who can rely and depend on each other. By teaching kids how to deal with bullying, and how to notice when bullying is occurring, support systems can be enforced to ensure that consequences are issued accordingly.
If you are interested in learning more about Youth Link, please visit: youthlinkcalgary.com You can also directly contact Kathy MacDonald at: kathy.macdonald@calgarypolice.ca
