Stay safe while online
Peterborough native model Theresa Longo’s Project Playbook offers youth safety message
Theresa Longo has launched a program to help youth safely navigate the Internet while maintaining a positive presence.
The Peterborough native teamed up with Matt Richardson, a CBS -TV internet safety expert, to create Project Playbook.
It provides youth with the tools they need to manage their online activity in a safe and positive way.
Longo, 30, and Richardson kicked off the program Wednesday with a presentation at Belleville’s Sagnoaska Demonstration School.
The duo plans to travel to cities across Ontario to speak to students, gearing content appropriately for different age groups.
Youth will be introduced to concepts such as online language, for example. It’s about maintaining a positive online presence while also being aware of how others portray themselves online.
Longo, a model, actress and fitness expert, got involved after she experienced her own online scare.
She was nearly lured into an unsafe situation.
“It just opened my eyes to the actual dangers that are out there when you put yourself on the Internet publically,” said Longo, a Holy Cross Secondary School graduate.
In Project Playbook, Longo shares her experience and talks about positive self-images online, while Richardson offers tips on how to stay safe.
The goal of the program is to vest youth and show them how to protect themselves.
“We’re empowering kids to treat their online life as a very well-thought out and controlled endeavour,” she said.
The program is currently a presentation, but is also being developed into a booklet.
The pair is creating a book for parents, too, offering advice and tips on how to talk to their kids about online safety and appropriate behaviour.
Books should be ready in the new year. That’s also when Longo plans to bring the program to Peterborough.
She’d like to see the book in schools and health-care facilities across Ontario to help promote mental health wellness.
NOTE: To book Project Playbook or for more information, email info@projectplaybook.ca.