A Port Coquitlam educator and expert on online safety and digital wellness will moderate a talk next month via the University of B.C.
Carol Todd, who works for School District 43 and is the mother of the late Amanda Todd, will oversee the discussion on Feb. 15 about social media abuse and misuse.
She will be joined at the webinar by Dr. Sameer Hinduja, a professor in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Florida Atlantic University.
He is also a co-director of the Cyberbullying Research Center, as well as a faculty associate at the Berkman Klein Center at Harvard University.
Participants will learn how to identify, prevent and respond to online threats such as cyberbullying, sexting and sextortion.
According to police reports in Canada, social media platforms like Snapchat are being used more often to lure and sexually exploit children and youth.
Last year, the national tipline Cybertip.ca fielded more than 800 reports — up from 600 in 2021. Experts attribute the rise in online crimes to the COVID-19 pandemic when more people shifted to screens to communicate during the lockdowns.
Amanda Todd, a student of the Coquitlam Alternative Balanced Education school (CABE), was 15 when she took her life after years of online sexploitation by her abuser: Aydin Coban, 44, was sentenced last October to 13 years in jail.
The UBC webinar is presented by UBC’s faculties of arts and education.
To attend the virtual session from 7 to 8 p.m. on Feb. 15, you can register via Zoom.
