Special call out to Slide #10 in the slide deck and disclosure. Since we are working with a sensitive and potentially triggering topic of Cyberbullying, the Instructor will read this slide word for word in the workshop. This slide was approved from our legal team, and reviewed by our partner Kids Help Phone. It is important that you read it and understand it.

We as an organization are not trained professionals when working with youth disclosing sensitive information. example, “At summer camp, someone called me this _____(name), and it really hurt my feelings.” Should a learner disclose information about their experience with/in cyberbullying during the workshop – it is important to follow these steps:

1) Acknowledge what the learner has shared. “Thank you (name) for sharing that with me/us today.”

2) Address support is available to the Main Room or Breakout Room participants: “Kids Help Phone is available at any time if you would like someone to talk to. You can also share this information with a trusted guardian or adult. If you want to contact Kids Help Phone, you can use this information here:
Phone: 1-800-668-6868 Text: Text CONNECT to 686868 Online Chat: https://kidshelpphone.ca/live-chat. If you want to leave the workshop to contact Kids Help Phone, or to talk to a trusted guardian – you can! We want you to feel safe and comfortable. You can come back to the workshop whenever you are ready.”

3) Inform the Producer or Co-Instructor of the situation. Have the Producer instruct the learner on how to leave the experience, and how to rejoin the workshop if they want to later. Do not ask the learner to leave until speaking with another member of your virtual team.

4) Fill out the Accident/Incident Form and send to CSM.

You as the Mentor are not responsible for helping the learner solve, or action on the sensitive information that has been shared. Direct them to Kids Help Phone for further support.

Duty to report:

******Number to have on hand on day of workshop**********

In further discussions with Kids Help Phone, they suggested that all teams have Toronto CAS (Children’s Aid Society/Services) number. From here, Toronto CAS will connect you with local services from your area across Canada. The number to have on hand during Saturday’s workshop is: 416-924-4646.

If you already have the Children’s Aid Society/Child Services number from your region, you can use it. If you do not have a number and do not wish to search for this number ahead of time, use this one: 416-924-4646 (Toronto Children’s Aid Society – they will connect you with correct CAS number for your region).

What is a Duty to Report?

Example: Reporting to CAS when a child (learner) is in danger from: Physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, neglect. To find definitions, visit Kids Help Phone Resource page here. The adult who witnesses or is told of the types of abuse listed above, must be the one to make the report. If you need to leave to make the report, ask for help from your team or CSM.

• • We have to report if we believe a child is in danger (as we would in our in person experiences). 
  • The duty to report and the actions that follow does not change based on if a child is being bullied, or if a child is being bullied by a guardian, or the severity of the abuse witnessed or disclosed.
    1) Ensure safety of the learner (this is difficult to do online but do the best that you can)
    2) Call child protective services or appropriate authorities
    3) Report to SLT (Mel, Laura, Claudette, Nancy, Cait)

Prepping for the work shop: If you want to find the Children’s Aid services in your area and write it down so you have it beside you. You can help find this resource using a search tool from Kids Help Phone here. In Google, if you type “Call Child Services, your city” the first 3 search items should bring up a Child services number.

Sarah, our representative at Kids Help Phone will be present for our Mentor Question and Answer session if you have any specific questions on this topic. Sarah is also available to answer questions. Let her know you are from CLC and asking a question when you can reach her at: sarah.mughal@kidshelpphone.ca .