Communications Maven #Digital Mom

Want to better protect yourself and your devices from cyber security threats? We’ve compiled a list of potential risks along with some helpful tools: https://mediasmarts.ca/tipsheet/cyber-security-consumer-tip-sheet

It's Back To School Season:

Are you worried about how social media affects mental health, social anxiety, depression and body image issues?

The film covers how social media affects young people, especially teen girls:

The Social Dilemma is free for a limited time. Watch now & hear from tech insiders about the hidden harms of social media. Join the ~100,000,000 people who have seen the Webby Award-winning film.

This is why we implemented the NO Smartphone rule at meals and gatherings!

When one person looks at a smartphone, around half the people nearby will start checking their phones within 30 seconds

Glancing at your phone quickly prompts other people to do the same When one person looks at a smartphone, around half the people nearby will start checking their phones within 30 seconds  

It’s been a while since I’ve published- but my cousin shared this and this is good reminder and their risk!

Pedophiles and s*x traffickers use them to stalk our kids. And our posts!

I know we’re all in a time of heightened stress and our kids are potentially using more screen time as we’ve gone virtual, but this is a great reminder for all of us to be safe.

Do you use hashtags in posts about your kids?

Hashtags. Sure, they can add humour, context, relevance to your photos – but at what cost?

On most social platforms, hashtags are designed to be clickable and help connect your photo or post to people looking for discussions and photos related to the topic.

Search on Facebook using and you can spend hours smiling over the thousands of images that take over your screen.

When you search using a hashtag, if you select “photos” you can also see pics shared by friends that have used that hashtag.

Type and it’s likely you’ll find hundreds of photos of your friend’s children being silly and cute.

Harmless, right?

Replace the person doing the searching (you, a person who has good intentions). Replace you with a pe*****le.

This is where posting gets risky for our kids.

Personally, I have seen my friends use well-intentioned photos with hashtags such as … you name it.

Sure, it’s funny or cute, but once you add that little # in front of the word, you’re opening these photos up to be searchable by everyone – including all the wrong people.

This is also a good time to consider what type of content and photos you’re sharing of your children with the world. Consent to share, future bullying, photos that could be found by future employers, or shared among the wrong people (child po*******hy) - are all important to consider before sharing any photos of our children.

Your profile is private and not public?

Once a photo is uploaded to the internet, it is in the internet world forever (even if you delete it, they never really go away as there are still ways to find it).

And who’s to say everyone on your friend’s list (or those that share a home with your friend or if a friend uses a public computer and forgets to sign out) have good intentions?

It’s just not worth it. Even if it is REALLY funny.

Keep hashtags off the photos (and consider the photos you share) that you wouldn’t want everyone to see. Because EVERYONE, is out there.

We need to adopt this sooner then later.

Schools to teach children about fake news and ‘confirmation bias’, government announces Proliferation of false information sources can ‘destroy trust, damage learning culture, and sap curiosity’, Department for Education says

This is not normal!

When Was the Last Time American Children Were So Afraid? Students used to duck and cover. Now they have lockdown drills.

Sad that this is what our children in the USA have to contend with. I remember when we practiced fire drills, not active shooter drills.

Child Walks Adults Through Active Shooter Plan In Gut-Wrenching Video March For Our Lives has a new video showing a child walking a group of adults through an active shooter drill and it's beyond upsetting.

"A 2018 study showed that while 93 per cent of youth think people their age send n**e selfies, only 41 per cent have ever actually sent one." CBC Kids News spoke to two N.L. teens about their personal experiences.

Want to learn more about non-consensual youth s*xting in Canada? Check out our full report: http://ow.ly/8XPv50n1QSg

https://www.cbc.ca/kidsnews/post/how-to-say-no-teens-talk-about-the-pressure-to-share-n**e-selfies

Teens talk about the pressure to share n**e selfies | CBC Kids News CBC Kids News contributor Claire Donnan talks to teens about what it’s like to be asked for n**e selfies.

This is a malicious hoax. PLEASE READ

Viral 'Momo challenge' is a malicious hoax, say charities Groups say no evidence yet of self-harm from craze, but resulting hysteria poses a risk

Excellent read on YouTube.

Watch: Su***de tips hidden in YouTube Kids videos