To Parents/Guardians: Cybersafe Girl is a public education program developed by the Atlantic Ministers Responsible for the Status of Women in Canada and can be found online at http://www.cybersafegirl.ca. It aims to provide information to teens (predominantly girls), parents and educators about how to be safe online. The New Brunswick government’s Women’s Equality Branch is a partner in the Cybersafe Girl initiative. •        Eight out of 10 Canadian households have access to the Internet (Statistics Canada 2011) •        More than 80 per cent of 10 to 17-year-olds have a Facebook page and nearly all have access to email (One in 10 children falling prey to cyberbullying, survey reveals) •        On an average day, young people are bombarded by many forms of media, including more than 30 million websites. (The Lolita Effect: Sexy girls in the media) The reality is that youth spend time online communicating with others, doing school work, and watching videos or listening to music. Unfortunately, they may also experience cyberbullying. Online/cyberbullying can take many forms. Some examples are: •         receiving threatening or aggressive messages; •      being the target of hate comments spread through e-mails, instant messages or postings on Internet sites; or •         threatening e-mails sent to others using the victim’s identity. •        Online/cyberbullying or cyber-violence is much more common among girls than boys, with 28 per cent of girls reporting being targeted by cyber- violence compared to just 15 per cent of boys. (The bullying gender gap: girls more likely to be targets) •        More than half of the teenage victims of cyber-violence never report it. (Web Aware - Cyberbullying) We encourage you to visit the Cybersafe Girl website today and speak with your child about what they do online, what you do online and how you can both stay safe while online. You can use the Cybersafe Girl’s Our Family Online Safety Agreement to start a conversation with your child about what your family does online. You can also develop your own online agreement that everyone in the family can feel good about. You can also visit the Women’s Equality Branch’s website and check out our “What’s My Role?” sheets – there is one for parents and one for teens. Both sheets are about roles and responsibilities when it comes to being online. As a parent, you want your child to be safe. The Women’s Equality Branch is pleased to provide you with tools and resources to help you do just that. If you have any questions or would like to learn more about online safety or cyberbullying, please e-mail us WEB-EDF@GNB.CA