How working together can help keep kids safe from digital dangers
Carol Todd remembers a time when teenagers’ insults were written on the bathroom wall or a piece of paper and could be washed away or torn to shreds.
It was a time when bullying was a schoolyard event, when the trials and tribulations of adolescence stopped at your bedroom door and that room was a refuge from the outside world.
No more. Now bullying has become a wider and more enduring problem through the use of technology and social media, says Todd.
“Something physical or face-to-face could happen at school and then they come home, turn on their devices and, boom, it’s right there — pictures, videos, words, the story. And it isn’t just one-to-one anymore. It’s oneto-100,000.”
Todd knows all too well how difficult growing up in the digital age can be. Her daughter Amanda took her own life on October 10, 2012, after she was subjected to relentless online bullying, extortion and public humiliation by a suspected perpetrator based in the Netherlands. She was just six weeks shy of her 16th birthday.
Todd, a teacher by profession, has since channelled her grief and her skills into educating the public about online safety and security through her foundation, the Amanda Todd Legacy Society, as well as through her involvement in a free education program offered through Telus called Wise Internet and Smartphone Education, or Telus WISE.
Cyberbullying, says Todd, is not only a youth problem. It can affect everyone, from youngsters to the elderly. Nearly 75 per cent of American adults have witnessed online harassment, with 40 per cent having personally experienced cyberbullying, according to a survey on the subject by the Pew Research Center.
“This is a global phenomenon that’s happening to [people of] all ages,” she says.
Unfortunately, cyberbullying among kids is also intensifying. Recently, Telus, along with partners MediaSmarts and PREVNet, commissioned a survey of 800 Canadian youth on the issue of cyberbullying intervention. Forty-two per cent of those surveyed said they had been cyberbullied in the previous four weeks, and 60 per cent said they had witnessed incidents of cyberbullying over the same period.
What’s more, 33 per cent of youth said they do not intervene in cyberbullying situations because they don’t believe adults give advice that helps – a wake-up call for grown-ups, suggesting they need to educate themselves on cyberbullying and how to better equip youth with concrete methods to intervene safely when they see it happening. Early on, Carol Todd recognized where the change would have to begin.
Speaking in May 2013 at a Winnipeg roundtable sponsored by the Canadian Centre for Child Protection, Todd said it couldn’t be left to police and governments alone to prevent cyberbullying; social media and organizations like telecoms needed to take a leading role.
Telus WISE hadn’t been created at that time, but as a long-time customer, Todd knew the company and its reputation well, and admired its presence and practices.
When it launched Telus WISE, she says, “It was really good to hear that a telecom was taking control and doing something positive.”
Todd signed on as a program partner and ambassador.
Telus WISE was the brainchild of Darren Entwistle, the company’s president and CEO, who has long held the belief that social responsibility is both a duty and a sound business practice. Entwistle knew that creating an educational, actionable and free resource to help all Canadians, not just Telus customers, would be critical to helping people utilize the most current Internet and smartphone safety practices.
The director of the program, Shelly Smith, who has been with Telus WISE since its inception nearly three years ago, says the multilingual effort has reached hundreds of thousands of Canadians across the country through workshops, seminars and on- line resources.
“We’re all aware of the benefits that connected technologies bring to our work and personal lives, but we also have to be aware of and prepared for the risks,” says Smith. “As more people of all ages use connected devices, ensuring they are used safely is more important than ever.”
Telus WISE addresses issues such as cyberbullying, identity theft and smartphone safety, to name a few, in classroom visits, adult education programs, comprehensive information guides, tip sheets as well as online at telus.com/ wise.
The program has fostered vital relationships with key individuals, agencies and organizations, including the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police and the Insurance Bureau of British Columbia, with whom Telus WISE has worked in collaboration to develop educational resources on how to avoid texting and driving and more.
“We need to make sure there are safety nets in place, and those include education,” says Todd. “You can never have enough education.”
“It needs to be ongoing and we need to educate adults just as much as we need to educate the kids.”
Solving issues confronting smartphone users of all ages is a three-pronged effort re- quiring prevention, intervention and reaction, says Todd. She believes Telus is doing an outstanding job at the prevention part, particularly through its WISE workshops punctuated with simple language and engaging presentations.
The reality is that 90 per cent of young people have some form of Internet-connected device and most have multiple social media accounts.
Kids today may be tech savvy, says Todd, but they are no different than they’ve always been – just as curious, adventurous, naive and vulnerable.
“Kids are kids,” says Todd. “They are no different now. It’s just that now they’ve got a tool in their hands that can be just as dangerous as a car.”
“When your child turns 16, you don’t give the car keys to them and tell them to go drive to their heart’s content. You give them lessons; you make sure they’re safe. We should be doing the same thing with mobile devices like smartphones and tablets.”
Don’t lecture, she urges parents. And don’t be quick to punish mistakes.
“The keys are communication and trust,” she says. “Parents and their kids need to have open conversations – conversations without judgment.”