Nova Scotia mother warns parents after predators targeted child on school laptop

A Nova Scotia woman is warning parents to monitor their kids’ activity on school-issued laptops after her daughter was targeted by predators on one.

Speaking to CBC News, a woman (whom the outlet didn’t name so as to protect her daughter’s identity) says she discovered inappropriate messages on the Chromebook provided by the school to her 14-year-old. On it, she found “things that were very sexual in nature,” and “self-harm related,” along with messages and conversations with individuals outside of the school system with her kid’s school-issued email address.

The mother says she became concerned after seeing some cuts on her daughter’s arms. She says she’s since taken the computer to the RCMP, leading to an Internet Child Exploitation Unit (ICE) investigation.

Speaking to CBC News, regional centres for Nova Scotia school boards said they have “robust” security features in place for laptops they provide to students, but said these safeguards aren’t applicable once devices are taken home and connected to different Wi-Fi networks.

That said, CBC News reports that the mother showed timestamps proving that the laptop received the inappropriate content both at home and at school. She says she’s especially concerned about instances like this because neurodivergent kids like her daughter can be even more vulnerable.

The mother notes that her child was exposed to predators through Roblox, an online game that is especially popular among youth. Over the years, there have been many reports of bad actors using this platform to target children. There was even a Canadian TVO documentary released earlier this year called Dangerous Games: Roblox and the Metaverse Exposed that examined this and called for greater attention and regulation of Roblox. Roblox CEO and co-founder David Baszucki also framed the issue of child exploitation on the platform as an “opportunity” in a recent interview.

And of course, this isn’t an issue that is specific either to online gaming or Nova Scotia. In other provinces like Ontario and B.C., there are districts that provide laptops to students. While this is undeniably a great service to help lower-income families, it’s still important to keep an eye on how these devices are being used.

All of this is to say that parents should be mindful of their kids’ online activity, even if they’re using school-provided devices that they think are safe. For more information on Roblox, specifically, the full Dangerous Games documentary is available for free on TVO’s YouTube channel and website.

For more support, parents can visit websites like Cybertip.ca (a tipline for reporting the online sexual abuse and exploitation of children) and Netsmartz (offers online safety tips, interactive activities and videos for kids, parents and educators). Children can also reach Kids Help Phone 24/7 by calling 1-800-668-6868, texting 686868 or visiting the organization’s website.

Image credit: Shutterstock

Source: CBC News