Cyber Awareness Month
Think Safe. Share Safe. Stay Safe Together.
October is Cyber Awareness Month! At Sudbury Catholic Schools, we are encouraging students, staff and families to explore how everyday choices can help protect personal information, strengthen online safety and support healthy technology use. Technology connects us to learning, creativity and one another. Knowing how to recognize suspicious messages, communicate respectfully and make informed decisions helps us use these opportunities safely and confidently.
Our Focus This October
Building a Cyberaware Culture
Throughout the month, the Sudbury Catholic DSB plan to share practical tips and public resources from the Educational Computing Network of Ontario (ECNO). Its K–12 Cyber Awareness campaign includes four themes, with videos, infographics and conversation starters to support learning at school and at home. In addition, as we embrace our yearly theme, “We Are Building,” we are working to build a cyberaware culture across our school communities—one where everyone understands that their everyday choices contribute to online safety.
What does being Cyber Aware mean? Being cyberaware means pausing before clicking, protecting personal information, treating others respectfully and asking for help when something feels suspicious or unsafe. It also means keeping conversations about technology open so that students, staff and families feel comfortable asking questions and raising concerns.
Through this month’s awareness campaign, we will highlight resources from the Educational Computing Network of Ontario (ECNO) to support learning at school and at home. By sharing information and encouraging small, consistent actions, we can help make cyber awareness part of everyday life, throughout October and beyond.
Digital Me: Protecting Your Information
Build confidence in protecting your accounts, devices and personal information. Explore strong passwords, multi-factor authentication, privacy settings and ways to recognize phishing and online scams.
Try it together: Discuss what makes an email or text message suspicious and how to check it before clicking a link.
Digital Us: Connecting with Care
Our words and actions matter online. This theme explores respectful communication, social media safety, safer gaming and cyberbullying prevention. Showing kindness and looking out for others helps create digital spaces where everyone feels welcome.
Try it together: Ask, “What would you do if you saw someone being treated unkindly in a group chat?”
Digital Families: Building Healthy Habits
Open conversations can help families navigate screen time, online challenges and digital well-being. Explore ways to set shared expectations and make room for sleep, physical activity, hobbies and time together.
Try it together: Choose one family technology habit to practise, such as putting devices away during meals.
Explore Digital Families resources.
Digital Minds: Thinking Critically About AI
Artificial intelligence is becoming part of how we learn and create. This theme encourages students and families to ask questions, check information, protect privacy and use AI thoughtfully to support their own learning.
Try it together: Discuss why a confident-sounding answer from an AI tool still needs to be checked against trusted sources.
Explore Digital Minds resources.
Free Resources for School and Home
ECNO’s resource collection includes downloadable posters and infographics, along with short videos covering passwords, phishing, privacy, social media, gaming, digital well-being and AI. Families and educators are invited to use these materials to start conversations and continue learning beyond October.
Explore all Cyber Awareness Month resources.
ECNO Resources
Cyber Security Ontario Resources
K-12 Zone – Ontario Resources
Keep the Conversation Going
Invite your child to talk about the apps, games and digital spaces they use. Let them know they can come to you or another trusted adult if something online feels confusing, uncomfortable or unsafe.
For additional guidance, visit ECNO’s Help and Support page.
Watch our website and social media channels throughout October as we share resources to help our community build safer digital habits.
Together, we are building a community that is informed, respectful and safe—at school, at home and online.