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w at er lo oc hr on ic le .c a W at er lo o C hr on ic le | T hu rs da y, Ju ly 21 ,2 02 2 | 6 ABOUT US This newspaper, published every Thursday, is a division of the Metroland Media Group Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Torstar Corporation. The Metroland family of newspapers is comprised of more than 70 community publications across Ontario. This newspaper is a member of the National NewsMedia Council. Complainants are urged to bring their concerns to the attention of the news- paper and, if not satisfied, write The National NewsMedia Council, Suite 200, 890 Yonge St., Toronto, ON M4W 2H2. Phone: 416-340-1981 Web: www.mediacouncil.ca editorial@waterloochronicle.ca facebook.com/waterloochronicle @wlchronicle WHO WE ARE VP, Regional Publisher Donna Luelo Director of Content Lee Ann Waterman Regional General Manager Nelson Parreira Regional Director of Media Heather Dunbar Advertising Representatives Fran Hendry, Katrina Anderson, Jan Bodanka, Matt Miller, Lisa Humphreys, Cassandra Dellow, Zaid Shahabuddin, Managing Editor Robyn Wilkinson Online Editor Loraine Centeno News Editor Ned Bekavac Reporter Bill Jackson Director Creative Services Katherine Porcheron CONTACT US Waterloo Chronicle 219 Labrador Dr. Suite 203, Waterloo, On., N2K 4M8 Phone: 519-886-2830 Web: www.waterloochronicle.ca Letters to the editor All letters must be fewer than 320 words and include your name and telephone number for verification purposes. We reserve the right to edit, condense or reject letters. Published letters will appear in print and/or online at waterloochronicle.ca Delivery For all delivery inquiries, e-mail customerservice@metroland.com or call 519-894-3000. OPINION TO LEARN HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR OWN CONTENT VISIT WATERLOOCHRONICLE.CA Canada geese are an un- deniably beautiful crea- tures with their long, grace- ful necks, majestic wing- span and iconic white, grey and black colouring. They are an central piece of this country's visual identity, appearing on everything from currency to overly ex- pensive parkas while their migratory behaviour is cel- ebrated as a harbinger of changing seasons. They are also extremely nasty pieces of work who poop everywhere and gen- erally make everyone's life miserable. In 2016, a visitor to Cana- da from Mexico described a Canada goose that had menaced him as a "Cobra chicken," creating both a popular meme and a per- fectly apt description of these flying curmudgeons. I am terrified of them, and with good reason. My office is near a lovely trail along a river. Some- times at lunch, I go for a walk to clear my head and allow the stress of the day to dissipate under the warm glow of glorious sunshine. But that walk has recently become a terrifying, shoe- fouling ordeal of terror, so much so that I'm usually better off just eating at my desk and doom scrolling Twitter. It's more relaxing. There are Canada geese everywhere, a gauntlet of them strewn along the path, outnumbered only by their disgusting droppings. While they all seem to have incredibly, uh, foul disposi- tions, the ones with baby geese are even more likely to go snap at any moment, squawking and hissing and sometimes charging at any- one or anything that comes near them. And while they certain- ly crap everywhere, they definitely don't give a crap about traffic: they routine- ly wander into the intersec- tion near my building as they look to eat the grass and garbage on the other side of the street. Drivers just stop, avert their eyes and let them pass: they know they could have their windshield wipers ripped off by an enraged bird at any moment. They don't fear humans, or anything else for that matter. And why should they? When's the last time you saw an Arctic wolf or a red fox wandering around an urban area? The rem- nants of their natural pred- ator populations exist far away from the parks, beaches and golf courses that are being overrun by Canada geese these days. And the cobra chicken knows that I am too chicken to do anything remotely threatening. It seems like most of the animals that Canadians hold, uh, dear are pretty but nasty. Moose are dan- gerous to be around, bea- vers can be weirdly aggres- sive and the first polar bear you see up close will be the one that eats you. Loons seem nice, though. They make a nice sound, look good on coins, steer clear of humans and poop in the privacy of their own lake. But I feel like their name is more appro- priate for the Canada goose -- the craziest of all birds. Drew Edwards can be reached at drew@drewed- wards.ca CANADA GEESE ARE ICONIC - AND TERRIFYING DREW EDWARDS Column Canada geese are iconic birds, but they're also extremely nasty pieces of work who poop everywhere and generally make everyone's life miserable, writes Drew Edwards. Nick Iwanyshyn A 17-year-old Manitoba boy, in February 2022, went from being an easy-going teenager to a suicide statis- tic in a matter of three hours. It is a story more common than we might imagine -- the perfect storm of youthful impulsiv- ity and immoral online thieves. It is a story every parent and teen should talk about. It begins one day when a young man receives a ran- dom message on social me- dia, say Instagram or Snap- chat, from a girl who comes across as very sweet, even naive. She flirts with him and quickly gains both his attention and his trust. She's never done it before, but she really likes him so she sends him a risqué pho- to. It's all part of a deal that they'll swap photos. She goes first, of course, to reaf- firm to him that he's special to her. A few moments later, he sends back a photo to her. It's all a ruse, of course. The girl and her photo are fake, and the person on the other end of the line is like- ly a man working for a crime syndicate overseas, or perhaps on his own. Within minutes, the boy re- ceives notice that he must send money, or numbers for gift cards, to an online address. Failure to do so will result in his picture be- ing sent to his entire con- tact list, including family and friends. He is shocked, stunned and writhing with shame, both for being stu- pid enough to do something like this and for fear that his picture will surface in his community and his stu- pidity will become public knowledge. Some teens empty their bank accounts. Some fall into despondent depres- sions. Some take their own lives. We were all first ex- posed to this kind of "sex- ploitation" with the story of Amanda Todd in 2012, but the practice has only in- creased over the last de- cade as more and more so- cial-media sites have evolved and those who would take advantage of vulnerable teens have found even more ways to connect with them. It's a big business and there are plenty of shady characters involved in it. They do not care what dam- age they do; it's a faceless crime as they never have to meet the young person, nor witness the pain of the fam- ily if it all blows up in a di- sastrous way. All they care about is that it's an easy way to make money. Every parent of children aged 10 and up who is given access to online resources needs to have a very frank conversation about this kind of activity with their child. It is not simply a question of instructing them never to post a com- promising picture of them- selves, although that is part of it. More than that, it is a question of teaching them never to trust anyone they meet strictly through on- line activities. The kind of exploitation described above is one kind of manipulative behaviour, but there are many, many more, some which end up in extortion, some which end up as permanent photos on child pornography sites and some which lure chil- dren into the grasp of pedo- philes. It's a nasty business that takes place right under the noses of parents on de- vices in their children's bedrooms. I must confess, the whole thing makes my skin crawl. I warned my sons, when they were teens, to never post anything online they didn't want their mother to see. In hindsight, I may well have made them more vulnerable to exploi- tation had someone con- tacted them and caught them in a vulnerable mo- ment. Their fear of being found out would undoubt- edly have been palpable. I should have talked to them about scams that could vic- timize them, and told them that if they ever made a mistake, and were threat- ened with extortion, that they could come to us and we'd help them. I was lucky it never came to that, but it certainly wasn't my wise counsel that brought such luck. Graham Hookey is the author of "Parenting Is A Team Sport" and can be reached at ghookey@ya- hoo.com. TEEN 'SEXPLOITATION' CAN LEAD DOWN A DARK PATH GRAHAM HOOKEY Column