Swan Hills RCMP present Online Safety to parents and students

Constables delivered a presentation on online safety with information on the laws around certain online activities.

The Swan Hills School held a parent information night on May 3 as a part of Mental Health Aware-ness Week. The event included a family BBQ, courtesy of PembinaPipelines, and information sessions addressing online safety as well as conflict resolution. In-tended mainly for students in grades 6 – 12and their families, this event included helpful information relevant to all age groups.

Constables Kevin Chopek and RussellHoffman delivered an in-formative presentation on online safety with in-formation on the laws around certain online activities, how to stay safe online and best practices, and the best course of action if one runs into trouble. Some of the key takeaways were to:

•  Refrain from sharing personal information(Name, location, etc.).
• Think twice about the images that you share. Texted pictures and videos posted through social media can be used against you. They can even be recovered from platforms that are supposed to delete these files after they have been opened.
• Do not share your passwords.
• Be careful of strangers that want to“friend” you.
• Cyber crimes and Cyberbullying can have real-world legal consequences.
• Speak to the RCMP if you are being harassed, bullied, pressured into sharing explicit materials(or blackmailed), the victim of fraud, or run into a situation where you feel unsafe.

Next, Karen Ladan spoke about conflict resolution. This presentation was aimed predominantly at communication between par-ents and teens, providing information on communication styles that pro-mote understanding and areas where communication can break down.Ladan also addressed ways to resolve conflicts as they arise with consideration for where parents and teens may be “com-ing from” in these situations.

Overall, it was a great event, filled with delicious food, helpful information on preventing online victimization, and navigating the conflicts that can (and often do)occur between teens and their parents.