Peter MacKay talks to Stellarton students about cyberbullying

Federal Justice Minister Peter MacKay was in Stellarton Friday morning, talking to students at W.A. MacLeod Consolidated school about cyberbullying. 

MacKay will be travelling across the country giving a series of talks on the subject and the federal government's new cyber crime legislation that was implemented in March.

The law makes it an offence to share an intimate image of someone without their consent. 

"These are not victimless crimes," MacKay said. 

MacKay told the students he wouldn't be where he is today if some of his actions as a teen were posted on the internet, encouraging the students to be careful of what they share. 

"You do things at points in your life when you're less mature," he said.

"You have less understanding of how the outside world will view those acts. And so I think when you can speak personally about your own experiences, it helps to perhaps deliver that message." 

When MacKay asked a gymnasium full of students in grades seven and eight if they owned a cell phone, nearly all of them raised their hands. 

"I think it is very important to educate people more on the subject of cyberbullying," said 13-year-old Leah McPherson. "I didn't know much information about it." ​

He also warned teens about radicalization on the web.

"Cyberbullying, quite frankly, isn't the only bad thing that's going on on the internet. So, the broader message here is that be mindful be aware that there are people out there that would do you harm."