聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 Gordon F. Kells High School welcomed Val Caldwell on Wednesday, Oct. 19, who spoke to middle years students attending from the elementary and high schools in the morning and high school kids in the afternoon. That evening Caldwell also hosted a Tech Talk for parents focused on safely integrating technology into their child鈥檚 life.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 For the students one of the first questions Caldwell asked was 鈥淲ho plays online games?鈥� A number of hands were raised. 鈥淲ho plays online games and talks to people they don鈥檛 know?鈥� Many hands remained raised.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Caldwell said that in this day and age, that is part of the technology that we are involved with, but that she encourages youth to be smart about the decisions they make.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 When addressing technology, Caldwell explained, 鈥淜ids today are not any different than when I was a kid. We used to pass notes. Today passing a note is sending a text. It鈥檚 just a different medium, the behaviour hasn鈥檛 changed.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 She then drew attention to how people interact with each other in face-to-face versus through a text message or over the internet. People utilize five non-verbal ways to communicate when speaking: body language, eye contact, hand gestures, facial expressions, and tone of voice. Words she said only make up seven percent of what the person is actually saying; while, 93 percent of what someone says in a face-to-face interaction relies on these non-verbal cues.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 In a text message this can be difficult to get across. Although there are emojis youth use within their messages, misinterpretation of what someone is saying often occurs. Many students, when asked if they had misread a message ever, put up their hands saying that it had caused problems with someone when there shouldn鈥檛 have been one.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The Tech Talk then looked at social media and youth using these apps.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淲ho here uses hashtags?鈥� Caldwell asked. A few youth put up their hands.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淲hat does a hashtag do? Does anyone know?鈥� she asked and when no hands when up she explained, 鈥淚t鈥檚 alright that you don鈥檛 know. A hashtag lumps information together. One of the most popular hashtags out there is #friendsforlife.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Caldwell pulled up a search for this hashtag and found over two million pictures she could look at and go through. Everyone that had used this hashtag with public settings had their picture come up. Caldwell then clicked on a random photo and showed the students how she could now see that individual, someone she doesn鈥檛 know, their entire profile.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Her suggestion to the youth were to ensure their profiles were private to keep them as safe as possible.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淭he issue with social media, is that people don鈥檛 believe that if someone can see it they can take it. Our profile pictures are always open to the public, you can鈥檛 make that picture private, so I would suggest not putting up a profile picture that has your face in it, or for parent鈥檚 to put up a profile picture of their child. I also suggest you make sure there鈥檚 no identifiable information in it.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 When it came to discussing traits they look for in friends, youth all said they look for someone that was trustworthy, honest, and someone with similar interests and values. How they have close friends and acquaintances; but they also looked at what a 鈥渇riend鈥� online means and if they have people on social media sites that they don鈥檛 actually know.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淎 picture does not make a profile real,鈥� Caldwell stated. 鈥淎nd that鈥檚 the danger of talking to someone we don鈥檛 actually know online.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 She then explained a situation following one of these tech talks where a 15-year-old student spoke with Caldwell. She had been messaging a 17-year-old boy from another province for months and he said he was going to drive to meet her at a hotel that weekend. Instead of her going to meet him the police did and it was discovered he was a man in his 30s.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Caldwell stressed the importance of being skeptical of people they don鈥檛 know on social media sites before speaking about what a digital footprint is.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淚 want you to go home and search yourselves on the internet, write in your name and where you鈥檙e from, and see what comes up,鈥� she said. 鈥淚f it鈥檚 on the internet it鈥檚 not private. That photo you put up, even if you take it down, could have been saved by someone else. The photos you put up on Instagram and Facebook and other apps don鈥檛 belong to you anymore, they belong to that company that runs that website. So, be aware what kind of impression you鈥檙e leaving online.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Caldwell also spoke about sexting and how you might not be able to control what someone sends you, you can control what you do with that picture you鈥檙e sent. Reminding them that under the Criminal Code of Canada that possession, distribution, and creation charges can be laid on people as young as 12-years-old. She reiterated though that once you send an image, even on Snapchat, the image can be saved through a screenshot. And the person you shared it with may share it with others.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 For G.F. Kells principal Maurice Saltel the Tech Talk was important because he sees youth and even adults addicted to their phones. In turn, in the school, this addiction causes sleeping issues at home and becomes a problem in the classroom. Additionally, the other topics addressed in the Tech Talk are usually thought of as a city problem, as something that doesn鈥檛 happen here, but the fact is it can happen anywhere because social media is everywhere. He hopes students will take the information seriously and protect themselves online, thinking about what they post before just doing it.
