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| Marvin Zuker |
When schools don’t give students the space to openly discuss their mental health challenges or aren’t transparent about the resources they have (or don’t have) to help students, young people are more likely to seek TikTok remedies. Does your child have a social worker, a nurse or a psychologist? Take your choice: no, no or no.
They can find friends and learn about different cultures, and the platforms offer safe spaces that allow racialized students and LGBTQ+ youth to connect with young people like them. For many students, social media is also a space where students can have open conversations about their mental health.
Schools must create spaces, both physical and metaphorical, where the mental health conversation can happen without stigma as it may allow students to decompress; e.g., create a mental health club in your school.
Dear Premier Ford and Education Minister Lecce: Please convey the right response about the dangers of online activity, especially if these young people engage in chats with people they don’t know in person.
Online sextortion, for example, can end in tragedy, suicide and the death of a young person.
Provincial and federal legislation must target people who post intimate images without consent. British Columbia’s Intimate Images Protection Act is not about free reign and the Internet. This legislation came into effect on Jan. 29, 2024, and applies retroactively to March 6, 2023, and it responds to growing problems of non-consensual distribution of intimate images by creating new civil rights and remedies. In succinct words, the Intimate Images Protection Act creates an expedited process under which a person whose intimate images have been distributed without consent, or who has received threats of distribution, to quickly seek orders to stop and prevent the spread of those images. An individual can revoke consent to distribution at any time.
British Columbia also launched Intimate Images Protection Services, which offers emotional support, general information and referrals. The program assists with applications to the Civil Resolution Tribunal and communicating protection orders issued by the Civil Resolution Tribunal.
What is sextortion?
From a Canadian mom whose son died by suicide in 2023 after being sextorted: “Simply put, sextortion is blackmail. It’s when someone online threatens to send a sexual image or video of you to other people if you don’t pay them or provide more sexual content.”
How does the sextortion occur?
- Youth (young men in particular) are often tricked into believing they are talking to a young girl. They chat over a short period, usually several hours, but in some cases as little as 20 minutes.
- Sextorters convince their victims to exchange sexual content and often start the trade by sharing a sexual photo first. The targeted youth then sends a sexual photo or video, or are tricked into exposing themselves or engaging in a sexual act over a livestream and being unknowingly recorded.
- Immediately after receiving the sexual content, the sextorter makes their demands. If a young girl is victimized, the sextorter typically demands additional sexual photos and videos. If the sextorter targets a boy, they almost always demand money instead.
- The sextorter will try to intimidate their victim by threatening to leak the content online or share it directly with the youth’s friends/family if they don’t comply. It’s common for the offender to share screenshots of the youth’s contacts or other identifying information (school, home address) to terrify the youth into sending sexual photos or money.
- If the youth gives in, the sextorter will demand more sexual photos or money. Sextorters will sometimes barter and accept a lower amount if the youth says they cannot pay.
- Amounts of money demanded range from as little as $9 (the amount a youth had in their bank account) to $7,500.
Here’s where to get help:
Talk Suicide Canada: 1-833-456-4566 (phone), 45645 (text between 4 p.m. and midnight ET). If you know about a child who is in immediate danger or risk, call 911 or your local police.
For emotional distress or a suicide crisis, you can find help at Kids Help Phone: 1-800-668-6868 or 9-8-8. Live chat counselling on the website.
For additional resources regarding emotional distress, check here.
Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention: Find a 24-hour crisis centre.
This guide from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health outlines how to talk about suicide with someone you’re worried about.
Go to Need Help Now.ca for support and help on what to do next. This resource offers important information and guidance on how to stop the spread of intimate images or videos and provides support along the way.
Report to Cybertip.ca. All concerns about sextortion are also forwarded to the police. Cybertip.ca staff work closely with our support services team to assist youth in crisis and help you and your family through the incident. In many cases, Cybertip.ca reaches out to services like Instagram and Snapchat to intervene at the moment to help get the sextorters’ accounts disabled.
Resources for educators: ProtectKidsOnline.ca.
Healthy relationships at Kidsintheknow.ca.
This is the third instalment of a series. Part one: Cellphones in Ontario schools, the voice of the child: Both on silent. Part two: Cellphones in Ontario schools, the voice of the child, part two
Marvin Zuker was a judge of the Ontario Court of Justice, where he presided over the small claims, family and criminal courts from 1978 until his retirement in 2016. He is a professor at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education/University of Toronto, where he has been teaching education law for 42 years. Zuker is the author and co-author of many books and publications, including The Law is Not for Women and The Law Is (Not) for Kids.
The opinions expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the author's firm, its clients, Law360 Canada, LexisNexis Canada or any of its or their respective affiliates. This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal advice.
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