Media Literacy Week: Youth & Social Networking - Creative, Connected and Collaborative
This November 3-7, thousands of students, educators, parents and community organizations will join MediaSmarts and the Canadian Teachers’ Federation (CTF) in marking Canada’s 9th annual Media Literacy Week.
Think Before You Share for Safer Internet Day 2015!
February 10 is Safer Internet Day (#SID2015): an annual international event organized by InSafe to help promote safer and more responsible use of online technologies, especially by young people. MediaSmarts and Facebook want you to help us mark the day by reminding youth to “think before they share” online!
Stand up to Bullying on Pink Shirt Day
On February 25, we’ll be celebrating Pink Shirt Day – a day dedicated to raising awareness around bullying, giving young people the tools they need to stand up to bullies and teaching them how to step in when they see it happening. To help you mark the day, we’ve put together a list of resources.
Screen-Free Week
Screen-Free Week is an annual event that traditionally takes place in May. Each year people from around the world make a conscious decision to turn off screens of all kinds for the week.
Excessive Internet Use - Overview
We don’t always hear the clock ticking when we’re online, and young people are no exception. Between doing research for homework, talking with friends, updating social media and playing games, it’s easy to see how kids and teens might lose track of time.
Responding to Excessive Use
Time spent using devices is one of parents’ top concerns when it comes to their kids’ digital lives – and is the number one source of conflict between parents and children relating to technology use. It’s tempting for parents to act authoritatively and lay down the law on the number of hours their kids can spend on the computer, but in order to effectively address excessive use, there needs to be an active, voluntary commitment on the part of the young person to control their behaviour. Otherwise, kids will just find ways to work around their parents and be left to their own devices once they’re old enough to leave the house.
Gambling - Overview
Young Canadians today are growing up in a culture where gambling is legal, easily accessible – especially online – and generally presented as harmless entertainment.