Change the Culture of Cyberbullying #yeswewill

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Each year at Peanut and Pofaroo’s school they host a Safety Awareness Week to ensure all the children, old and new to the school are (re)acquainted with the safety protocol in and around the school.  After a summer away, it’s a great idea to revisit to know what to do in an emergency situation.

The typical drills like severe weather, intruders, bomb threats and fire are a just a few that the children practise.  Not something we want to think about happening at any school but as we’ve seen in the past, it does happen.  Already this year, we’ve had a ‘Hold & Secure’ at Peanut and Pofaroo’s school due to an electrical transformer fire across the street.  It was quickly under control and the school day back to normal in 45 minutes.

While these threats are clear and visible, there are other threats to children and teenagers every day that might not be as visible.  Not to friends, families or teachers.

As we become more entrenched in technology with children and teens accessing the internet via Facebook, twitter, SnapChat, Pheed & Instagram to name a few, the potential for safety to be compromised is even higher.  There is the threat of a potential predator to be out there trying to lure an unsuspecting child or teen to reveal more information than they should.  Even closer to home is the real threat of cyberbullying. 

cyberbullying

As part of Safety Awareness Week, York Regional Police along with the York Region District School Board and York Catholic District School Board launched the #YesWeWill campaign against #cyberbulling this week with a video and rally hosted at Aurora High School.

Cell phones were required at the rally which had students tweeting #YesWeWill to change the culture of cyberbullying – to show the world that students have the power to change the way we think and stop cyberbullying in its tracks!

‘The partnership between both York boards and York Regional Police aims to let students share their opinions and positive comments via social media to discourage students from bullying via social media and encourage those who are being bullied to report it through a new tool on the school boards’ websites.

The new online feature, called Report It!, allows students to report bullying, violent incidents, vandalism and other negative behaviour to their school principals who will then investigate.’

While Peanut and Pofaroo are too young to be involved in social media, it’s comforting to know that the ground work is being implemented now to help keep them safe in the future from cyberbullying when this overprotective momma eventually lets them become part of the online world – when they’re 35 of course! 

All joking aside, cyberbullying is real and IT IS happening!  It can also lead to criminal charges that will follow you for the rest of your life!

See how your words can hurt with this interactive video from the Government of Canada.

If you or someone you know is a victim of cyberbullying, visit Canada.ca/StopHatingOnline

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