The Envision Counselling and Support Centre will host a pair of meetings for youth next month through its cyberviolence project.
Cyber nights will take place on Dec. 8 for Grades 7 and 8, and Dec. 10 for Grades 9 and 10. Both meetings will begin at 4 p.m. at the Estevan Leisure Centre’s multi-purpose room.
“It gives youth who have experienced cyberviolence a chance to express what they have gone through, be with other people who have gone through the same thing, gives them a chance to talk about what they’ve done, or what’s happened to them, and give them tools to make it easier to associate online and deal with what happened,” said Juli Dzuba, who is the cyberviolence project co-ordinator.
Young people will go through exercises, talk in group settings, learn new skills and tools to cope with cyberviolence and focus on self-esteem.
Supper will also be served at each session.
The cyber nights represent the next step for Envision’s cyberviolence project, which seeks to end the issue for girls and young women in southeast Saskatchewan. They received around 370 surveys and met with around 100 people through focus groups during a data gathering stage that happened early on.
Dzuba was busy earlier this year speaking to classrooms and presenting information to students on cyber safety and the bystander effect. She visited almost all of the schools in the city.
“We’re going to focus more on doing the cyber nights here, and hopefully, if they go well in Estevan, we’re going to try them out in Weyburn,” said Dzuba.
She also wants to offer more parent nights. During a parent night in May, the Saskatchewan Integrated Child Exploitation (ICE) Unit made a presentation on the prevalence of online issues for children in the province.
“We’re hoping to get the ICE unit back to Estevan again,” she said.
Dzuba has also been filing reports with the federal government’s Status of Women branch, which has funded the project.
Young people who have attended her presentations have reported they feel like cyberviolence is often minimized, which makes it difficult for them to come forward.
“They’re a little scared to come forward as well, because they don’t know how,” said Dzuba. “They think they’re going to get in trouble because of their role in what’s happening online, but we want to let parents know it’s important to support their child in what they’re going through, and let them know they’re there for them, no matter what the situation is.”
Dzuba said there isn’t a quick fix for cyberviolence issues. It’s an ongoing problem that is constantly evolving, so people who are victimized need to have a support system.
The two-year cyberviolence project will wrap up next March. Dzuba said the focus during the next few months will be on the cyber nights for youth and any parent nights that they are able to have, so they can assimilate as much information as possible.
Once it wraps up, Dzuba would like to see a resource hub in the southeast, so that people know who they can turn to for resources and support if they become a victim of cyberviolence. While the details haven’t been ironed out for such a hub, Dzuba believes it would be very beneficial.
