Technology is allowing today's youth to connect with each other in amazing ways. If you're visiting this website, chances are you already have or are considering getting your child a cell phone. If that phone has or will have texting capabilities - then this page is for you!

While texting is an incredible popular teen activity, it's important to recognize that there are risks. Teens tend to be very willing to socialize and experiment far more explicitly via texting than they might otherwise do in person - and this can open them up victimization. When technology is misused, disrespected, or abused it can lead to difficult situations, consequences, and child protection issues.

WHAT CAN PARENTS DO? Make your kids aware about textED.ca

To address the risks associated with texting, and to promote safe, responsible and respectful texting among teens, the Canadian Centre for Child Protection has launched textED.ca - a fun, educational website for teens.

Considering the substantial growth in texting among adolescents in recent years, the launch of this new website comes at a critical time. Concerns surrounding teens sending sexual messages, nude photos and videos via text messaging is on the rise, yet the vast majority of kids doing so are unaware of the short-term costs and the long-term ramifications associated with their actions.

The textED.ca website has been created to help educate youth about how to use technology respectfully and responsibly, and to know what to do when someone crosses the line. From learning how to deal with textual harassers to helping teens deal with stress or a break-up, the textED.ca website incorporates games, quizzes, discussion pages, downloadables and other fun tools to help them navigate through the issues.

Ensure your kids are safe and responsible texters - bring them to www.textED.ca!

textED.ca is coming to Canada's schools!

Teaching kids safe practices, be it online or in the real world, is an important part of a child's education. However, when it comes to the Internet and texting, it's quite common for teachers to ask how they should begin discussing the online world and safe texting with youth in their classroom. Many teachers, like parents, wrestle with the question of how to balance a teen's need for privacy with their job of teaching safety.

To assist them, we've also created a textED.ca school program to help teachers bridge this important subject matter with their students. It balances our responsibility to both empower and protect youth online.

We encourage you to check with your child's school to see if they are incorporating online safety education into their curriculum. If they're not, please share your interest in textED.ca and feel free to encourage them to click on the link for teachers at www.textED.ca to access our Teacher Guide and Lesson Plans.

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