In this episode of the Where Parents Talk podcast, host Lianne Castelino speaks to Kara Brisson-Boivin, PhD, Director of research at MediaSmarts, a Canadian not for profit organization focused on digital and media literacy, adjunct Research Professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Carleton University and mother of two, about tools and strategies to help youth intervene against online hate.
Kara Brisson-Boivin
Director of Research, MediaSmarts
Adjunct Research Professor
Department of Sociology and Anthropology
Carleton University
Mother of two
Carleton.ca (Kara Brisson-Boivin)
“…we found in this study, more than any other study, that young people indicated that online hate against anyone, insofar as they were cognizant and aware that it was impacting them, harming them or hurting their feelings, influenced their desire to want to intervene. And this is an interesting finding, because some of our previous research indicated that young people were more likely if it was a friend or family member or a neighbour or someone they knew. But in this study, we found that they didn’t have to have a direct connection, but just knowing that there was another person on the end of that hateful or hurtful comment or post was enough to motivate them. So that was really valuable finding. And that’s that piece around empathy that we were discovering — that there was an empathy link.”
