Is this how I want people to see me?
Internet Awareness and Safety
The internet can be an amazing place. It allows us to meet new people, learn new skills, and find new interests. The internet can also come with risks. By following the tips shared below and learning about potential risks online, you can help make sure that you stay safe while learning and having fun online.
Tips to Stay Safe Online
Protecting your identity and personal information is an important way to stay safe online, particularly with people you don’t know.
| Try to avoid: | Consider: |
|---|---|
| sharing personal information like your real name, address, school, or birthday; never share banking information or your social insurance number | using a nickname for your username to protect your identity |
| sharing passwords with anyone other than a trusted adult | changing your account privacy settings from public to private |
| sharing your cell phone number or email address with someone you do not know or trust | choosing strong passwords and changing them often |
| disclosing your current location or schedule | talking to a trusted adult about your online relationships |
| responding to inappropriate requests or messages | deleting or blocking anyone who makes you feel uncomfortable |
| posting photos with identifying information in the background (like your house, street address, or school) | looking at the entire photo before posting (e.g., ensuring the background doesn’t show your location, school, or home) |
Pause before you post online and ask yourself the following questions.
A good thing to keep in mind is to only do or say things online that you would do in the real world. The internet has no delete button. Even if you click ‘delete’, the things you do and say online could have already been forwarded, saved, or screenshotted. Remember, it is normal to feel pressure to show a perfect version of yourself online. What you see online is often edited and filtered – not reality.
Meeting new people online can be a fun way to make new friends, learn new things, and explore your interests. Always talk to a trusted adult before you meet someone in person for the first time. If you do meet up, meet in a public space and share your location with a trusted adult.
Potential Harms Online
Cyberbullying
Cyberbullying is bullying with the use of communication technology (online bullying). Examples of online bullying include:
Cyberbullying is hurtful and dangerous. Depending on the situation, cyberbullying can also be a crime.
Online Grooming
Online grooming happens when someone, usually an adult, tries to become friends with someone younger to control them and take advantage of them for a sexual purpose (e.g., to talk about sex, ask for naked photos or videos). Online grooming is also known as luring or e-grooming.
Sexting
Sexting is sending or receiving sexual messages through technology such as a cell phone, app, website, social media site, email, or webcam.
Sexts can include:
The law in Canada protects youth from abusive sexual activities, including sexting. The law allows for sexual expression and the exchange of sexts with partners close in age who give consent. For more information about safer sexting, visit: Sexting Basics: How to Stay Safe and Sexting Only With Consent.
Sextortion
Sextortion is blackmail. It’s when someone threatens to send a sexual image or video of you to friends, family, or other people if you don’t provide more sexual images or videos, send money, or do what they say. Sextortion is illegal.
To learn more about online safety, potential harms online, and how to build healthy online relationships, check out Building Healthy Online Relationships.
What To Do and How to Get Support
If you are experiencing cyberbullying, grooming, or sextortion, or if you are worried that your photos/videos have been forwarded, you can take the following actions.
More Information About Internet Safety
*Kids Help Phone
Free, 24/7, confidential
Call: 1-800-668-6868
Text: CONNECT to 686868
Chat Online: www.kidshelpphone.ca
HealthLine
Free, 24/7, confidential, health and mental health advice
Call: 811
