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Online safety seminar for children held at Tottenham Community Centre

June 8, 2023   ·   0 Comments

By Brian Lockhart

The internet and all the devices that are connected to it can be a terrific place for information, entertainment, and connectivity to family and friends around the world.

However, it can also be a dangerous place where people with less than good intentions will try to scam you out of your money, embarrass you, or in extreme cases, cause harm once they find out where you live.

An online safety information seminar was held at the Tottenham Community Centre on Tuesday, May 30, aimed at kids ages 13 to 18.

The seminar was organized by Tottenham resident Antonella Grossi, a mother who believes kids should have the information to make smart decisions when using online devices.

Hosting the event were Nottawasaga OPP Safety and Media Relations Officer Katy Viccary and OPP Detective Sergeant retired Shawn Evans. Detective Evans worked in the Anti-Rackets Branch of the OPP and has been involved in delivering information to school students as well as running the D.A.R.E Program.

Sergeant Evans spoke in a very interactive way with participants at the seminar and had considerable knowledge of scams and other behaviour online that can cause trouble for people, especially unsuspecting kids.

The seminar discussed things like Snapchat, Tik Tok, and Instagram, discarding old phones, cyberbullying, image sharing, privacy, online security, and empowering parents in the digital age.

Sergeant Evans started by asking how many kids paid their own cell phone bills. That was a cue to parents that, ultimately, they have the responsibility to monitor their kid’s activity online.

During his trips to schools, Sergeant Evans asked kids how many hours per day there were online. The answer was most kids admit to spending many hours daily on their devices. The recommended amount is two hours.

“In not here to lecture you,” Sergeant Evans said to the audience. “My biggest passion in all this is for families and individuals to do a reality check on how to use technology today, and decide if there are things we need to change or things we need to be concerned about.”

One of the biggest dangers kids could face is strangers learning information about them online. This could be something as simple as seemingly innocent questions asked by strangers during an online gaming session.

Another concern is artificial intelligence, which is now being used with increasing sophistication. AI can be used for a variety of information-collecting techniques.

Sergeant Evans relayed an incident he knew of personally, where a person was convinced to send money to scammers based on information they had provided to her. They were so good at what they were doing that, based on personal information gathered by the scammers, she was convinced the request was legitimate.

A young person’s future can be affected by information they put online, activities they take part in, or images they download.

As noted, many employers or other agencies routinely search the internet to find any incriminating information about a person, including comments and photos, even if they were made years earlier.

This can come back to haunt a student when applying for a job, for school enrollment, or for other organizations.

It was also explained that even though you may delete information on your old computer or cell phone, there are people and programs that can be used to find old deleted data.

In conclusion, a Think Method of posting included five things to consider when posting online.

The questions you should consider when posting are: is it true? Is it hurtful? Is it illegal? Is it necessary? Is it kind?

By the end of the seminar, kids in the audience were certainly thinking about how they should behave online and what precautions to take when interacting with other people in the cyber world.

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