Student Wellness & Safety Resources

Supporting the positive well-being, mental health and safety of students, staff and families is a key priority for Brandon School Division.  Please visit the websites listed below to access a range of resources and supports to help with student wellness and safety. 

If you or someone you know is in need of immediate assistance, please reach out to a parent, a teacher or another adult you trust, or call 911.

• 9-8-8: Suicide Crisis Helpline
  Canadians can call or text 9-8-8 to access bilingual, trauma-informed, and culturally appropriate mental health and suicide prevention support. The service is free and can be accessed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Trained crisis responders will listen to you and provide support with compassion, providing a safe space for you to talk.
  
  
• Canadian Centre for Child Protection (https://protectchildren.ca)
  The Canadian Centre for Child Protection is dedicated to the personal safety of all children. Our goal is to reduce the sexual abuse and exploitation of children, assist in the location of missing children, and prevent child victimization through a number of programs, services, and resources for Canadian families, educators, child-serving organizations, law enforcement, and other parties.
  
  
• Commit to Kids (https://commit2kids.ca)
  The Commit to Kids program helps child-serving organizations reduce the risk of sexual abuse and create safer environments for children in their care. Commit to Kids offers tailored options to help organizations create a culture of safety in which employees/volunteers feel confident in both their interactions with children and their decision making when it comes to reporting inappropriate behaviour.
  
  
• Cybertip!ca (https://cybertip.ca) 
  Cybertip.ca is Canada’s tipline for reporting the online sexual abuse and exploitation of children. Operated by the Canadian Centre for Child Protection (C3P). Cybertip.ca receives and addresses online and phone reports from the public.
  
  
• Hope for Wellness Helpline 
  The Hope for Wellness Helpline is available to all Indigenous people across Canada. Experienced and culturally competent counsellors are reachable by telephone and online ‘chat’ 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Both telephone and online chat services are available in English and French. Telephone support is also available upon request in: Cree; Ojibway (Anishinaabemowin); and Inuktitut. (Note: Supports in Cree, Ojibway, and Inuktitut are not available 24/7, so you may need to call in to find out the next time that a language-speaker will be available.) 
  
  
• Kids in the Know (https://www.kidsintheknow.ca)
  Kids in the Know is the Canadian Centre for Child Protection’s national safety education program. The program engages students with interactive activities to help build skills that increase their personal safety and reduce their risk of victimization online and offline.
  
  
• Kids Help Phone (https://kidshelpphone.ca / Phone: 1-800-668-6868 / Text: 686868)
  Kids Help Phone is Canada’s only 24/7 e-mental health service offering free, confidential support to young people in English and French. Phone service is also offered in Ukrainian, Russian, Pashto, Dari, Mandarin and Arabic with the help of trained interpreters.
  
  
• MediaSmarts (https://mediasmarts.ca/) 
  MediaSmarts is a Canadian not-for-profit charitable organization for digital and media literacy. Our vision is that children, youth and trusted adults have the critical thinking skills to engage with media as active and informed digital citizens.
  
  
• Missing Kids (https://missingkids.ca)
  MissingKids.ca is Canada’s missing children resource centre. Owned and operated by the Canadian Centre for Child Protection, MissingKids.ca offers families support in finding their missing child and provides educational materials to help prevent children from going missing.
  
  
• Need Help Now (NeedHelpNow.ca)
  NeedHelpNow.ca helps teens stop the spread of sexual pictures or videos and provides support along the way. If you or someone you know has been negatively impacted by a self/peer exploitation incident, we are here to help offer guidance on the steps you can take to get through it.
  
  
• PREVNet (https://www.prevnet.ca)
  PREVNet is a national research and knowledge mobilization hub that brings together researchers and national organizations to build research capacity, assess youth relationship problems including bullying and dating violence, and promote evidence-based programs and effective policies across Canada to address and reduce youth interpersonal violence and promote healthy relationships.
  
  
• Protect Kids Online (https://protectkidsonline.ca)
  Protect Kids Online is a one-stop website where parents of kids, tweens and teens can get free cyber safety advice from Internet safety and childhood education experts. Owned and operated by the Canadian Centre for Child Protection, Protect Kids Online is intended to educate and empower parents by providing prevention tips to help reduce their child’s risk of online exploitation and points to help them get the conversation started about online safety with their kids, no matter what their age.
  
  
• RCMP Centre for Youth Crime Prevention (https://www.grc-rcmp.gc.ca/en/youth-safety/centre-for-youth-crime-prevention)
  The CYCP strives to support healthy youth-police relationships. We support the RCMP's strategic priority to help reduce youth involvement in crime. We offer tools to help police officers, parents, teachers and other educators inform youth ages 13 to 21 on various crime and victimization topics.  
  
  
• Safe and Caring Schools Manitoba (https://www.edu.gov.mb.ca/k12/safe_schools/index.html)
  Manitoba Education and Early Childhood Learning is committed to supporting schools in planning for the provision of safe learning environments for all children and youth. With parents as partners, educators strive to ensure all children and youth feel safe, confident, and capable as they interact with others and develop as learners. This website provides an overview of Manitoba initiatives and related links and resources for parents, students, and educators.
  
  
• Shared Health Manitoba Mental Health & Wellness Resource Finder (sharedhealthmb.ca)
  The Mental Health and Wellness Resource Finder provides a number of mental health, wellness and addictions supports and resources for those you care about, including youth and adolescents. 

Should you have any questions about wellness and safety for students in Brandon School Division, 
please contact your child's school directly, or send us an email: info@bsd.ca.

 Help us #KeepOurKidsSafe in our #BSDSchools!