Online Safety for All
Teenagers are very tech-savvy and use electronics to communicate every day. The purpose of this 6 week psychoeducational group is to learn about appropriate and safe use of the internet.
Group Program Overview
Young men (12-18) who attend this group may have already gotten into some trouble (with parents, school officials, or the police) for their online behaviour. These youth will benefit from taking time to think through some of the ways they can stay safer in future.
Each week in this 6 week in-person group program, we will focus on topics to help youth understand some of the things they need to think about and some of the legal consequences of online behaviour. In particular, we will be talking about how sexual behaviour online, such as looking at pornography, sexting, or sharing of sexual images, can become problematic and get young people into trouble. Our overall goal is to promote safe online behaviour for youth and have them leave the group with clear strategies for staying safer – this includes avoiding police involvements in future.
By the end of this program, participants will be able to:
- Understand how emotions, actions, and the media are connected and what this means for online behaviours.
- Have a deeper understanding of the law and how things can go wrong.
- Make safer choices for themselves when online.
Who Can Participate?
Males age 12-18 with inappropriate online behaviour concerns with no serious previous charges. Group involvement is voluntary.
Program Delivery
This program is not currently available at London Family Court Clinic but professionals can reach out us to become a trained facilitator and deliver it at their organization.
Contact Dr. Joyce Radford
joyce.radford@lfcc.on.ca
Expand the topics below to see more about what participants will learn each week
Week 1: Getting to Know You – how to identify feelings and behavioural responses to feelings
By the end of this session, participants will be able to:
- Understand the group outcomes and group discussion guidelines.
- Understand how emotions and actions are connected and what this means for online behaviours.
- Begin to learn about online safety and the media.
Week 2: Positive Sexuality in Adolescents
By the end of this session, participants will be able to:
- Understand the impact that media has on the construction of gender and your developing sexual identity and behaviours.
- Be able to think critically about how gender shows up in the media and pornography.
- Understand that it is normal to be curious about sex and pornography, but that pornography does not often reflect what is typical.
Week 3: Online Consent
By the end of this session, participants will be able to:
- Know the sexual consent laws in Canada.
- Be able to explicitly ask for sexual consent both in person and online.
- Understand the difference between what is Law and what is “right” as it relates to consent.
- Be able to walk through the process of determining when consent is necessary.
Week 4: Pornography and The Law
By the end of this session, participants will be able to:
- Differentiate rules and laws.
- Know the laws relevant to online activity.
- Consider the risks to self and others of engaging in inappropriate online sexual activity.
- Understand what sextortion is and ways to avoid being sextorted or sextorting others.
- Think more critically about who is in pornography, what potential cohesion could look like, and the potential use of minors.
Week 5: Digital Footprint and Wellbeing
By the end of this session, participants will be able to:
- Be able to define what a digital footprint is.
- Understand how they interact with others online.
- Be able to define well-being.
- Identify the negative impacts of early exposure of pornography to well-being.
- Understand the connection between well-being and online use.
- Be able to set goals for wellness, including online wellness.
Week 6: Final Review and Send off
By the end of this final session, participants will be able to:
- Articulate key concepts learned through the program.
- Identify ways of being SAFER online.
- Develop their own safety contract.
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