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Laura Lawrence is an educator, a mother, a four-times bestselling author and a fierce advocate for mental health and wellness in youth. The founder of Youth Matter Canada will be bringing important information and insights on Online Harms and Cyber Safety to parents and students at Lake Lenore School. Laura will be talking to students during the school day and to parents and the public at 6:30 on Monday, October 28.
Lawrence is passionate about fostering connections, conversations and community to support the mental wellness of youth and families. Laura was awarded a Queen’s Platinum Jubilee medal in 2023 for her significant contributions to health & wellness for youth and families. She was also the recipient of a ‘Women of Distinction’ award in 2024 for her philanthropic work in mental health in the province of Saskatchewan.
Last spring, the speaker developed a keynote talk addressing online harms education and cyber safety which she says came from her own life.
“It really came from a personal experience of having one of my own teenagers experience a pretty serious online harm,” Lawrence explains. “Prior to that, I was aware of the impact of digital spaces and spending time in some of these social media and gaming apps platforms were having on youth, but I didn’t know the extent.”
Lawrence took a deeper dive into the digital world to educate herself. On seeing the depth of the problem, she embarked on a mission to communicate her findings to youth and their parents. Her talks advocate awareness, education and personal responsibility of their behaviour online.
Perhaps even more alarming is how young people's persistent presence online is affecting their behavioural and cognitive development as children.
“Experts say the average child will scroll 1 kilometre a day – literally with the finger on their device. We did a survey with approximately 300 youth, and 75 per cent of kids are spending 6 or more hours a day online, and expert research shows that three or more hours a day online for kids doubles their risk of anxiety or depression.”
It’s why Lawrence advocates parents educating themselves in an age where kids sometimes have more information than their parents do.
Part of her presentation exposes parents to recommendations and resources for support, along with websites where parents and children can educate themselves about the impact on mental, relational and behavioural health. This is in addition to the startling fact that an average of 500,000 predators are online in the same digital space as children.
Lawrence shares more about both the effects and the potential pathways to take in her presentation. The presentation is taking place at Lake Lenore School on Monday, October 28 at 6:30 pm. The talk is open to the public. To register, email donna.haeusler@horizon.ca.