Tweens & Teens
This page has lots of resources for fun, learning, and getting help. Click on the section you want to skip to or scroll down to explore the page.
Need Help?
In an emergency, always call 9-1-1. If it's not an emergency but you still need to tell the police something important, please call the Sault Police at 705-949-6300. Our police officers are kind, empathetic, and helpful.
Virtual Resources
-
-
If you need help right now, you can talk to a trained volunteer crisis responder about anything you're going through. No issue is too big or too small. Kids Help Phone is free and available 24/7. In addition to English and French, you can now connect with Kids Help Phone’s professional counsellors in over 100 languages.
- Call: 1-800-668-6868
- Text: Get support right now by texting CONNECT to 686868.
- If you identify as Indigenous, you can ask to be connected with a First Nations, Inuk or Métis crisis responder (if one’s available) by messaging FIRST NATIONS, INUIT or METIS to 686868.
- Chat online: Tap to message online from a web browser
-
A 365-day-a-year, 24-hours-a-day, 7-days-a-week national support network. We offer life-changing assistance to Canadian bullied kids via telephone, email and texting.
- Call our toll-free number: (877) 352-4497 and follow the prompts to access our Lifeline Support Team!
- Text us anytime! Simply send an SMS message to: (877) 352-4497
- Prefer to email? Email: support@bullyingcanada.ca
-
If a nude of you under the age of 18 has been shared online, or you have experienced luring, sextortion, or other forms of online sexual violence as a youth, our support team can:
- Help you with next steps
- Send notices to assist with having offending accounts suspended and/or removed
- Send notices to platforms through Project Arachnid, our tool to help take down abusive images
- Help connect you to additional services like counselling/therapy, peer support, or victim services that are a right fit, and available in your area
-
When life’s got you down, One Stop Talk is here for you. Children and youth up to 18 years of age can instantly connect with a therapist and develop a plan together to move forward and feel better.
- Free therapy sessions (no appointment required)
- Registered, culturally diverse therapists
- Connection to ongoing local support
- Confidential and culturally safe
Local Resources
-
Algoma Family Services offers clinical services to youth (14-24 years of age) who are experiencing mental health and/or substance use or addiction challenges.
The Clinical Team at Algoma Family Services is comprised of registered psychiatrists, psychologists and counsellors. Our dedicated team of youth addiction counsellors through our Alternatives for Youth program are here to assist any youth experiencing substance use or addiction challenges. We believe in finding your strengths and promoting positive outcomes through comprehensive assessment, consultation and treatment.
To begin, call Intake Services at (705) 945-5050 or fill out a self referral form.
-
Located at 124 Dennis Street #124, The Algoma Youth Wellness Hub is a safe place to hang out, have fun, and access resources. It's a "one-stop shop" for youth ages 12-25 to address their needs related to mental health, substance use, primary care, education, employment, training, housing, and other community and social services.
-
Canadian Mental Health Association offers a free Walk-In Counselling Service on Tuesdays between 11:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. The single session walk-in counselling service provides brief counselling services for children, youth, adults, couples, and families. There is no need to make an appointment as they work on a first come first served basis. They offer a variety of other services, too!
-
There are things Children’s Aid Society (CAS) can do to help keep you safe and help make things better for you. If you are being abused, or if you think that a friend is being abused, please call us anytime day or night. We can help.
Please call us:
- If you are experiencing serious conflict in your family
- If you are being, have been, or you are afraid you will be abused or neglected
- If you are aware of another child/youth who may be abused or neglected
- If you know or suspect that another child/youth is exposed to violence at home
- If you need help regarding a pregnancy
- If, as a parent, you find the stress becoming overwhelming
- If your parents abuse drugs or alcohol, and you do not feel safe
- If you were kicked out of your house and need a place to stay
Youth ages 16 and 17 who cannot be adequately protected in their current living situation can also apply for a Voluntary Youth Services Agreement to live on their own, access counselling, etc.
-
The Indigenous Friendship Centre, located at 122 East Street, offers culturally-based programming for Urban Indigenous children between the ages of 7-12, and 13-18. Programs provide support, tools, and healthy activities (e.g. homework help, referral to community resources, recreation, cultural outings, talking circles, peer support, nutrition programming, life skills, and more).
-
The KLUB Community Centre is a non-profit 2S-LGBTQIA+ Community Centre for recreation, art and culture programs for youth & adults🌈
-
The New North Mentality Youth Group (14-24)
The New Northern Mentality Youth Group is a youth-led advocacy group that is committed to opening up the conversation about mental health and breaking down the barriers (eliminating the stigma of having a mental health challenge and/or getting help for mental health) in our community. Meeting will take place on Mondays beginning at 6 pm at 205 McNabb St.
For more information please call or text (705) 297-3467 or ye@algomafamilyservices.ca
-
The goal of the Youth in Transition Program is to support youth in their successful transition out of the child welfare system into adulthood. Some of the resources and supports the Youth in Transition Worker may be able to offer include (but are not limited to):
- Housing supports;
- Education resources;
- Employment services and training;
- Life Skills training (e.g. financial management, household management);
- Health and mental health services; and
- Legal services
Online Activities
Games
-
Welcome to Interland, a game designed to provide lessons for online safety. Play Interland to become a more confident explorer of the online world. Interland is an interactive desktop game designed for kids aged eight to twelve.
-
SOS is a grade-specific game for 3rd -8th grade students. The students answer questions and collect gold coins while exploring a map. The game covers concepts such as being cyber-friendly, appropriate sharing, securing your information and protecting yourself against predators.
-
In the educational game 'A Day in the Life of the Jos', students in grades six to eight help the brother and sister team Jo and Josie with situations they encounter online as they go about a typical day in their lives.
-
Test your fact-checking skills. These quick quizzes will help you start to learn how to spot suspicious posts.
-
Think you know how to read and understand privacy policies and terms of use? Learn how to make sense of legal documents for websites and apps with this interactive game.
-
Developed in partnership with CIRA, this interactive quiz is designed to increase students’ knowledge of the cyber security risks they face every day.
-
On the internet, it can be hard to tell what’s true and what’s false—but we have to make a lot of decisions based on how reliable we think things are. In Reality Check, you’ll learn how to find clues like finding where a story originally came from and comparing it to other sources, as well as how to use tools like fact-checking sites and reverse image searches.
Printable Booklets and Worksheets
-
This activity book teaches youth in Grades 7 and 8 about healthy relationships and boundaries. Through various engaging activities, youth will be able to identify the difference between healthy and unhealthy relationships, how to set personal boundaries, and how to get out of uncomfortable situations when those boundaries have been broken. Youth will learn how easy it is to lose control of information and photos shared online, and when to get help from a safe adult. Courtesy of Canadian Centre for Child Protection.
-
This activity book teaches teens the difference between healthy and unhealthy dating relationships, including the issue of sexual consent. Through various activities, teens will learn about love vs. control in dating relationships, self-peer exploitation (“sexting”), Canada’s sexual consent laws, and how to get help if they find themselves in an uncomfortable situation. Building teen’s safety confidence and competence in this way reduces their vulnerability to victimization, and increases their personal safety. Courtesy of Canadian Centre for Child Protection.
-
This by youth, for youth zine is meant to be a helpful tool to learn more about consent. Courtesy of PREVNet.
-
A zine that discusses how important it is to know your self-worth in the context of unhealthy relationships, violence prevention, and maintaining safety. Courtesy of PREVNet.
Online Courses & Learning Modules
-
An online, scenario-based course about cyberbullying. Courtesy of Safe@School.