City’s Online Safety Toolkit migrates to LPS website

By Lethbridge Herald on June 24, 2025.

Alejandra Pulido-Guzman
Lethbridge Herald

The City of Lethbridge’s Online Safety Toolkit has moved to the Lethbridge Police Service website and features new content and updated resources to help families and youth stay safe in today’s digital world.

As part of the Builder Safer Communities initiative, the toolkit was launched in October of 2024. To offer clear, practical guidance on high-risk behaviours, through access to tips and tools to stay safe while online for people of all ages. 

The toolkit is focus on prevention, and it equips families with strategies to address online risks before problems arise.

Ashley Killins, Safer Communities Educator, said that they did a complete revamp and redesign of the online safety toolkit. They added more information, resources and a couple of new sections as well. 

“When we first started the toolkit, we were aiming for families, but as it has evolved now, we made it a larger resource that can be accessed by any age really, whether you are a parent, educator or youth, it is a resource that has relatable and practical resources for online safety,” said Killins. 

New sections include “In the News” which provides highlights of local online risks featured in the media. Topics include social media, gang recruitment, online radicalization and the rise of online sexual exploitation.

And “Youth Zone,” which offers supports for youth when things get risky online. Topics include cyberbullying, tips for safe online interactions and the risks of sharing intimate images and messages.

“Resources go from anything like parental controls, to what risks are happening currently in the landscape of the digital world with youth, and how to help take a preventive approach in educating children,” said Killins. 

She added that the toolkit also helps adults educate themselves on how to support youth while navigating online. 

The toolkit covers several topics, including violence, cybersecurity, gang recruitment, fraud and scams, parental controls, social media apps, and navigating real-time digital risks. 

“Kids are online constantly now and is not just at home, it’s followed in their pocket whether at school, online gaming, or within the community, so it’s important that youth are being educated on how to access support and how to support themselves as they encounter these risks,” said Killins. 

Lethbridge Police Service Cst. Chris Andrade with the youth justice program, told media Monday that over the last few years they have seen an increase in online activity that youth are getting in trouble in, through cyberbullying, sextortion, and other areas. 

“As a police service, we are always responding to those and giving parents information after the fact when something has happened. With resources like this, we are hoping that parents and youth in the community can access these resources proactively,” said Andrade. 

He added that by taking a proactive approach, the goal is to prevent further victimization and issues online. 

“Often time parents go through a myriad of information online themselves, trying to determine what is a trustworthy site, what information is relevant to them,” said Andrade. 

He said that to have all the information in one place makes it easy to access for everyone. And this helps take a proactive approach. 

“As soon as we have a youth accessing a phone, a tablet or the internet we should have parents that are aware of the dangers that are online,” said Andrade. 

He said that unfortunately, when it comes to children being involved in online games, there are people that use and exploit those sites to try and groom kids, so parents need to be aware of those dangers.