“As for all youth, it is important for Indigenous youth to be cyber smart and practice online safety as they are increasingly navigating the digital world and developing digital literacy skills.” - Caitlin MacPhail, SuperNOVA

In 2022, Actua conducted a literature review that identified that there is:

• a lack of information available on how minoritized and marginalized populations use the internet, especially those from low-income backgrounds, and Indigenous or rural youth

• a need to focus on collecting responses from minoritized and marginalized populations, especially Indigenous and rural populations

As such, Actua’s focus is to increase reach to diverse youth as well as to better understand how to make this content culturally relevant and responsive to diverse communities. The following resources have been developed or curated to identify key learnings derived from engaging with youth and consulting with community members:

• Indigenous Youth in STEM Actua Cyber Smart Resource: Insight from Indigenous Community Members
  • Learnings and recommendations from Actua’s Indigenous Youth InSTEM Delegation and various Indigenous community members and partners across Canada, including SuperNOVA! Check out this resource to learn more.
• Black Youth in STEM: Actua Cyber Smart Resource: Insight from Black History Month Event
  • Learnings and insight from an Actua hosted Black History Month event on how to adapt content (Cyber Smart and others) for Black youth.
• Anti-2SLGBTQI Cyberbullying: A Resource for Educators
  • This resource from Egale highlights the disproportionate harm that 2SLGBTQI youth face as a result of cyberbullying. It offers practical strategies for prevention and intervention for anti-2SLGBTQI bias, discrimination and violence online and beyond.

Cyber smart skills and awareness is critical for all people across Canada - youth, adults, and you.

• Why is this topic important for all youth to learn about and build skills on?
• What youth do you engage with in your programming? How would you adapt it to better support the youth you engage with?