Everyone’s done it. Some have even felt a little creepy about it.

Typed their name in to google to see what comes up.

What most don’t realize is that this is an important part of protecting your online identity! You should be regularly checking what’s going on out there to be sure no one is falsely using your identity. In fact we would recommend everyone set up a google alert for their name. Google will send you an email every time it comes across a new reference to your name.

Now if your name happens to be John Smith, this might lead to a lot of emails about other people, but generally this is a good way to stay on top of your digital identity.

The chief medical examiner of Alberta confirmed today that a number of ecstasy related deaths can be linked to a tainted batch of the drug.

Without getting into a lot of big names and biology, the tainted batch contains a new chemical that actually takes a little longer to ‘kick in’ which means people will take more doses to get their desired effect. Oh and this new chemical is more likely to produce seizures and death.

This all boils down to the question.

Do you trust your drug dealer?

If anyone can answer yes, then how about this. In nearly every case you are not buying from the actual producer so then the question is

Do you trust your drug dealers dealer?

The report says that this batch of ecstasy is 5x more toxic than usual. Maybe that means there is a 500% chance it will ruin your life.

See the Calgary Hearld for the full report.

Welcome 2012!

If you are making your new years resolutions to do things like loose weight, get fit, eat better, make more money, live happier, and generally improve your life, maybe it’s also time to think about how you talk with your kids.

It has been proven again and again that parents that talk with their children on a regular basis about important issues like, gangs, bullies, drugs, online safety, and healthy relationships help their kids to make informed and positive decisions.

To help get things started we have put together a short list of resources for you to help make some of these important conversations easier.

Gangs

getalife.ca

Bullies

stopbullying.gov

bullyfreealberta.ca

Drugs

drugfacts4youngpeople.com

kidshealth.org

Online Safety

netsmartz.org

If you know of any other great resources that aren’t on the list please let us know!

Today’s Metro has a story about a Calgary man being arrested on child pornography charges after being tipped off by Facebook. It seems the man was using his facebook and email accounts for child porn over a 6 month period.

A big kudos to facebook for reporting the activity! And it’s awesome that ALERT (Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team) could move on it so quickly.

This is a great example of technology being used for good to catch these people, but it makes the important point that we NEED to be talking to our kids about what is appropriate and inappropriate and even dangerous behaviour online.

Just have a conversation!

Over the past year we have been asking every class that comes to YouthLink Calgary, What’s Your Issue?

The kids get to choose between

• Substance abuse
• Domestic Violence
• Online Safety
• Gangs/Bullies

We’ve collected all the results and put them into a google map so we can see what kids from different parts of the city say their major issue is.

Click here to see the Google Map Results

Each pin on the map represents a school that has visited YouthLink Calgary in the past year. The pins colour tells you which issue the students there thought impacted them the most. You can also click on an individual pin to see the school name and the percentage of votes.

Once you have opened the map, use the check boxes on the left to toggle extra information like Federal, Provincial, or Municipal political ridings.

Although this is by no means a scientific study, it is interesting to note that the large majority of students feel that drugs is the predominant issue.

We will continue to update this map as schools return this year, and as new schools visit us to show what the grade six students of Calgary say is their issue.

Can you think of other information that should be on the map? Leave us a comment below and let us know what you think.

It’s been a very busy and very exciting summer so far. At the top of the list for cool things that have happened is our Summer Camp.

In summers past we have hosted a number of different camp and day care programs from many different orginizations around Calgary. Everybody from SAIT to YMCA to the Calgary Bridge Foundation. This is the first time that we have hosted our own CSI Summer Camp program.

The camp was a huge success and we leared a lot! Here are a few lessons we learned from summer camp.

Give The Kids Some Control Over The Schedule

We found that the kids like to have some control over their day. We built some flexability into the schedule to allow some extra time here and there if the kids were really getting involved with something. And be able to move on to the next activity if they were loosing interest.

Have More Activities Planned Than You Need

You never know when you might need to pull out a quick game to fill some time, or replace a planned activity with something new that might be a bit more interesting to this particular group of kids.

Make It Unlike School

The mainstay of our programming is for school classes. For 10 months of the year we provide great cirriculum based programs for teachers and students. Programming a summer camp is a very different thing. We found it is important to find very hands on ways to engage the kids in some of our educational material.

Let The Kids Create Some Games

We found that when it came to our gym and outdoor time we could come prepared with some games and let the kids decide what they wanted to play. They really enjoyed this control over their day and some of the best games we played came from them.

Go To Some Really Cool Places

The kids all agreed that some of the best parts of the camp were the trips we took. We will be workin hard over the next few months to add more destinations to our list.

Dicipline By Asking Questions

Invariably, when running a week long camp, the issue of diciplining will come up. We found that the kids knew when they were doing something innapropriate and that simply asking them what the rules are was enough for them to stop what they were doing and in most cases not repeat what they were doing.

Establish A Routine Early

Setting out a consistant schedule for every day was very important for being able to give the kids the control and flexability mentioned earlier. If the kids know generally what to expect in their day, it becomes a  lot easier for them to make decisions with in that framework.

Make It A Unique Experience

Being unique is what will draw people to the program, keep kids engaged while they are here and keep the program memorable and impactful once the kids have left.

Today’s headlines feature a story of a 17 year old that was allegedly sexually assaulted by a 56 year old male.

The details of this story are very disturbing. Apparently they met online through a site intended for adults, they had been interacting for some time. The Man actually picked her up from a summer camp she snuck away from in central Alberta. This means that she had planned to sneak out and had given a stranger the details of when and where to find her alone.

This story gives another example of why it is so important to be talking with our kids about what is happening in their online life. There are alot of tools out there to monitor your kids activities online, and keeping tabs on what they are doing is important but it is not the only thing to be done. Talking to them about headlines like this one and helping show them why these things can be dangerous.

So where do you start? What do you say? Here are a few resources to get you going.

1. Create a family internet contract like this one.
2. You can use some of the conversation starters we have on our Safe Surf site to talk about what they are doing online.
3. And the good people at Mashable have a great guide on how to talk to your kids about what they are doing online.

What are you doing to talk to your kids? Leave us a comment and let us know.

The event that I am blogging about already took place earlier this month but the issue that this event was covering is an on going issue. This issue is bullying.   Dan Savage a  popular columnist came to Calgary to promote his project known as  the ” It gets better project. ”  http://www.itgetsbetter.org/ The project came into existence following a series of teen suicides that were a result of bullying.

The website features support in the form of videos uploaded by a plethora of people- everyone from normal everyday people to President Barack Obama.

Bullying is an issue that does not need to exsist and the only way that we can eliminate bullying is by speaking out about it because by being a silent bystander you are part of the bullying scenario. Speak out about bullying; tell a teacher, a parent, an older sibling anyone you trust. Just don’t be silent.

At the YouthLink Calgary- The Calgary Police Interpretive Center we have an exhibit dedicated to bullying. We talk about the different characters involved in the bullying scenario and how to avoid being part of the bullying scenario.

A great big Thank You to everyone that came out our AGM yesterday!

We had great support from our volunteers and we recognized them individually for the number of years they have contributed to YouthLink Calgary.

Police Chief Hanson was in attendance and shared some remarks and stories about the relevance of YouthLink and the important part it plays in the overall CPS strategy to reduce crime in Calgary. Most notably he talked about the importance of educating our youth about social issues before they finish elementary school and the part that YouthLink Calgary plays in that crucial time.

We also announced some big news regarding our move to the new Police Headquarters West Winds Campus.
That’s right, The Calgary Police Interpretive Centre will be moving to a brand new facility. The move will almost double our existing exhibition space, which will increase our capacity and ability to reach more Calgary youth than ever before. We will also be gaining some much needed room for our archives and artifacts. Look for more infomation about our move here as it becomes availalble.

Thanks again to everyone that supported YouthLink Calgary this year. It is though your support that we are able to continue to make a difference in the lives of our youth and help them create a future they can be proud of.

According to an article in today’s Metro, kids wanting to try drugs have no problem accessing marijuana, cocaine and ecstasy; this is in part due to the fact that ecstasy, cocaine and marijuana are some of the most common street drugs available in Calgary.

At  YouthLink Calgary- The Calgary Police Interpretive Center we have an educational exhibit dedicated to drug prevention and awareness. The exhibit follows the lives of four kids from Calgary who decide to try drugs.  The exhibit shows some of the ingredients that go into making street drugs; on display are marijuana, ecstasy, cocaine and its derivatives such as crack cocaine. Kids get to see how people act when they are high and what they look like-this includes physical as well as mental changes. At the end of the exhibit the outcome of the four kids are displayed. Out of the four kids only one has a happy ending.

This outcome is shockingly true. The reason this exhibit exists is because the Canada wide statistic for first time drug use is age 12.

Kids can get drugs from family members, friends and  strangers. Peer pressure is one of the reasons kids try drugs, curiosity is another reason.

Kids need to be aware of what is out there;  of what they could be doing to their body when they make the choice to try drugs- information that drug dealers can’t and won’t provide.  Kids also need to be aware that we all have the power of choice- and by taking them through the exhibit hopefully we can influence their decision making in a positive way.