Building Safe Habits
It can be tough talking to young kids about digital safety!
This is why Windsor-Essex Children’s Aid Society and the Sexual Assault Crisis Centre of Essex County partnered to develop Beastie Valley. Created for Digital Explorers (children 3-7 years old), Beastie Valley is a series of eight educational videos and supporting materials.
These resources help caregivers and educational professionals talk to kids about digital safety and build skills.
Topics in the series include Online Friends, Sharing Information, Sharing Pictures, Seeing Yucky Pictures, Getting Help, Getting Touchy, Well Being in the Community, and Getting Connected.
In this story, RedBeastie gets a GabNut message from a beastie they’ve never met, and they’re worried about talking with a stranger over the web.
Their best pal, Green Beastie, suggests they should check with a Trusted Grown-Up before accepting any invite from a stranger. Watch the video to see what RedBeastie did and what important message they have for all their friends in Beastie Valley.
Here are some fun ways to remember Red Beastie’s message!
Click on the links below to access resources.
In this story, PurpleBeastie makes new friends on the RootWeb and forgets to check with a trusted grown-up first.
One day, PurpleBeastie is chatting with another beastie from a faraway valley who seems nice.
They start exchanging knock-knock jokes and stories about their lives.
After chatting for a while, the other beastie asks for PurpleBeastie’s tree location and real name.
This makes PurpleBeastie nervous and their grown-up’s voice echoes in their head, saying “Never share personal information with strangers, PurpleBeastie… never… ever… ever…”. Watch the video to see what PurpleBeastie did and what important message they had for their friends in Beastie Valley.
Here are some fun ways to remember PurpleBeastie’s message!
In this story, FuchsiaBeastie and their friend OrangeBeastie spend the day being silly and trying out funny poses.
FuchsiaBeastie strikes a pose that makes them both laugh really hard and OrangeBeastie wants to remember how funny it is. For a minute OrangeBeastie thinks it may not be a good idea they carve it into the rock wall to remember, but they do it anyway. The next day, FuchsiaBeastie is walking through the valley when they notice other beasties looking at something and giggling – not in a good way.
This happens all day, until FuchsiaBeastie asks, “What the heck is so funny?”.
The other beasties had a drawing of FuchsiaBeastie from the day before – the SAME one that OrangeBeastie carved into the rock! FuchsiaBeastie feels sad – they were just having fun with their pal.
It doesn’t seem as funny anymore and everyone is laughing at them. Follow the story to see what FuchsiaBeastie did and what important message they have for all their friends in Beastie Valley.
Here are some fun ways to remember FuchsiaBeastie’s message!
OrangeBeastie likes to keep life exciting by trying new things whenever they can.
Lately, a few of the young beasties have been playing this game where they pass around a sketchbook and each beastie takes a turn adding a funny picture. Some of the pictures have been pretty funny and some of them have been kind of gross.
This time, when OrangeBeastie flips through some of the pages, they see something really surprising: someone has drawn a picture of a beastie with their TAIL showing!
Everyone knows that young beasties have been told never to show their tails to other beasties.
OrangeBeastie is really bothered by the pictures, and they can’t stop feeling weird.
Follow the story to see what OrangeBeastie did and what important message they have for all their friends in Beastie Valley.
Here are some fun ways to remember OrangeBeastie’s message!
OrangeBeastie likes to keep life exciting by trying new things whenever they can.
OrangeBeastie needs help with an embarrassing problem, but they don’t want to share it with the WHOLE WORLD! They tried to solve the problem on their own, but OrangeBeastie can’t figure it out and realizes they need to ask someone they trust for help. OrangeBeastie considers their options and ends up asking PurpleBeastie for help first – they have experience dealing with difficult situations! In the end, OrangeBeastie solves their problem by talking to an adult beastie they trust – SilverBeastie.
Here are some fun ways to remember OrangeBeastie’s message!
RedBeastie has SUPER ticklish head tendrils and is super self-conscious about it.
They’re big and blobby, so some beasties can’t help but reach out and poke them. It makes RedBeastie really uncomfortable when people do this and reminds them of when their older cousin used to tease them about it.
RedBestie becomes friends with someone new, GreenBeastie. Their friendship flourishes fast and RedBeastie is anxious that GreenBeastie will touch their ticklish head tendrils without permission too. This leads to a lot of misunderstanding between the two beasties and almost ends their friendship.
With some help from BurntSiennaBeastie, an older and wiser beastie, GreenBeastie and RedBeastie learn an important lesson about consent and boundaries. In the end, they find a new and special way to celebrate their friendship.
Here are some fun ways to remember RedBeastie’s message!
MaroonBeastie is pretty cool and well liked!
You’d think that would be enough, but MaroonBeastie is REALLY into collecting pinecones and can’t seem to stop. No matter how many they collect, it’s somehow never enough.
MaroonBeastie’s journey leads them to encounter a lot of different beasties. They meet a wise beastie named SepiaBeastie, who teaches all the young beasties a lesson about well-being. SepiaBeastie talks about how important it is to have all our needs met and how adult beasties can help.
MaroonBeastie understands and in the end, they find what they have been needing the most.
Here are some fun ways to remember MaroonBeastie’s message!
Everyone in a community plays a role, and together we create a strong community web. No one is alone.
Getting Connected brings together all the lessons and experiences from Beastie Valley and shows that it is a true community. Everyone does their best and tries to do the same for others. Acts of kindness and support are happening all around Beatie Valley. If you look for help, eventually you will find the support you need.
