Digital Issues

Whether you are doing a little research, following a news story, or sharing interesting things on social media, the Internet is a never-ending source of information. But how do you know if that information is true, unbiased and relevant?  This section helps you sharpen your critical thinking skills in finding, recognizing and sharing quality info online.

The Internet is a social medium made up of communities, cliques, and groups. While this is usually positive, sometimes people engage intimidation or harassment. This section explores the myths and realities of cyberbullying and offers tips for adults to help young people who are involved in it.

When we use digital devices we run certain risks – to our personal information, our financial data, and those devices themselves. This section describes different cyber security risks, with tips and strategies for managing them, and looks at issues of particular concern to children and teens.

Maintaining a healthy balance between entertainment media and other activities in children's lives has always been a challenge. The Internet has made this challenge even more difficult. This section explores how to recognize when excessive use has become problematic and how to address the issue.

Gambling is an issue that parents rarely talk about with their children, but easy access to online gambling sites has made this a pressing issue that needs to be addressed with young people. In this section, we offer parents and teachers resources for discussing this topic with children and youth.

For all that the Internet can offer us, it sometimes offers a platform for promoting hatred and violence. In this section, we cover what online hate means, what Canadian law says about it, and how young people and adults can respond to it while keeping in mind Canada’s position on freedom of expression.

This section introduces important concepts that impact our ethical behaviour such as ethical development, empathy and laws, rules and personal morality. Then we explore how these ethical concepts affect the ways that young people behave online as well as the opportunities they represent for developing digital literacy skills.

The following section looks at the ways in which children and youth are targeted and marketed to online and the associated issues. It also provides strategies to help kids develop the media smarts they need to play – and not unwittingly pay – when they go online.

Despite what many adults believe, privacy matters to youth. Teaching kids about privacy, ethics and digital citizenship can give youth the agency to control their personal information and avoid embarrassing or harming themselves and others with their online actions.

Young people today are exposed to a plethora of sexual imagery in media – both online and off. This section looks at potential impacts of exposure to pornography on the development of healthy sexuality and offers tips for protecting young children and educating older kids.

It’s important to understand the real risks young people face on the Internet, especially in regards to sexual exploitation. Who is at risk of sexual harm and why? What activities are markers for higher risk and how can we protect those youth who are most vulnerable. This section explores these topics.

Sexting is defined as sending and receiving sexual, nude and semi-nude images electronically. While there is evidence that sending sexts is not by itself a harmful activity, significant harm can be done when these sexts are shared without the original sender’s consent.