Online peer intervention

One of the biggest changes in our understanding of bullying over the past few years has been our increased awareness of the important role that witnesses, or bystanders, play in any bullying situation. Research on offline bullying has shown that witnesses can be just as important as targets or perpetrators in determining how a bullying scenario plays out. This is especially relevant in the case of electronic bullying, where witnesses have many more choices in how they might engage: they can choose to be invisible, to join in anonymously, to re-victimize someone by forwarding bullying material – or they can choose to intervene, to offer support to the person being targeted and to bear witness to what they have seen

National Study Shows that 71 Per Cent of Youth Who Witnessed Cyberbullying Intervened

(November 16, 2015) New research conducted by TELUS WISE in partnership with MediaSmarts and PREVNet has found that youth believe cyberbullying is wrong and are motivated to intervene when they witness it, but would be more likely to do so if adults provided better guidance on managing interventions and were more responsive when incidents were brought to their attention. The research sought to better understand the factors that influence whether or not youth speak up when they witness cyberbullying and their perspectives on how to intervene. The findings provide cause for optimism and highlight the need for adults to support young people's desire to responsibly intervene when they observe cyberbullying.

First Do No Harm: How to be an active witness - Tip Sheet

Did you know? Two-thirds of Canadian students have helped someone who was being picked on online.

When you see or hear bad things happening online, you have a lot of power to make things better – or worse. Sometimes it’s hard to know the right thing to do, so ask yourself these questions:

Be Respectful, patient and kind: How youth are building a better world online

MediaSmarts asked Canadian teens attending a Digital Youth Summit what they do to make the online world better for everyone. Here’s what they said:

10 tiny ways you can make the world a better place today

You can make the world a better place TODAY. 10 tiny ways you can make the world a better place today.

Talking About the Oscars With Your Kids

The four of us watched the Oscars last night. My youngest went to bed before it ended so the rest of us are feeling rather bleary this morning. I always wonder why they always do it on a Sunday. Don’t they know it’s a school night? Sigh.

Happy International Women’s Day 2016!

March 8 is designated around the world as International Women’s Day, a day for recognizing women’s achievements, as well as the inequities that women face. This year, the United Nations’ theme is Planet 50-50 by 2030: Step It Up for Gender Equality, focusing on the UN’s 2030 Agenda. The theme for Status of Women Canada – #YouAreEmpowerment – is also about working towards gender equality.

Click if You Agree (Grades 7-9)

Think you know how to read and understand privacy policies and terms of use? Learn how to make sense of legal documents for websites and apps with this interactive game.

Click If You Agree

When you sign up for a service on a website or use an application for the first time, do you read the privacy policy and terms of use thoroughly? Or, like most of us, do you click “I Agree” as fast as you can?

New interactive game helps kids understand privacy policies and terms of use

Ottawa (March 31, 2016) –To help young people make informed decisions when going online, MediaSmarts, Canada's centre for digital and media literacy, has launched a new educational game, Click if You Agree. The game teaches teens and preteens the skills they need to read and understand the legal policies on websites and in software they use.