Joanne Kates, Director of Camp Arowhon in Algonquin Park, is widely known for speaking and writing about building social safety for children.

Parenting has become more complex thanks to social media, but the challenges are not new. There have always been children who are sometimes – or often – isolated from the group or mistreated by other kids. It is not new for girls to climb the social ladder on somebody else’s back. Or for boys to taunt the less athletic ones on the field.

Children know all about the pecking order; it is we, the grownups, who don’t quite get it. We desperately want to protect our children from harm and yet we don’t quite know how to do that.

Joanne Kates speaks and answers questions to help parents understand and combat bullying.

About Joanne:

Joanne has been a Director of PREVNet (Promoting Relationships and Eliminating Violence), a New Initiative of the federally funded Networks of Centres of Excellence. Canada’s national anti-bullying organization.

Before joining the board of Prevnet in order to advance the anti-bullying work across Canada, she volunteered for 10 years for Integra, a children's mental health centre that helps children with social, emotional and behavioural problems related to their learning disabilities. During her tenure as president of Integra’s board, Joanne was honoured with the Queen Elizabeth Jubilee Medal for her service to the community.