Pink Shirt Day with Dr. Poh Tan

The Scientists and Innovators in Schools (SIS) program presented by TELUS delivers exciting, interactive presentations by career mentors to students across BC.

For Pink Shirt Day, long-time SIS volunteer Dr. Poh Tan shares her experience with cyberbullying, and we share TELUS resources that can help.

Throughout Dr. Poh Tan’s professional journey, she’s experienced bullying that targets her race, intellect, and gender.

“And, as online communication became more prevalent,” she says in an interview, “cyberbullying through emails became a reality.”

A few years ago, when she was a student, Poh received an abusive email from a peer. It contained vulgar and racist language.

“I was shocked. I felt angry, sad, and upset. I didn’t know what to do.” 

She shared the email with her family and trusted friends. They cautioned her against responding because “poking a bully could make it worse.”

Three days later, another message arrived.

This time, the sender attempted to intimidate Poh into remaining silent. They instilled a fear of possible embarrassment if she shared the emails with others. 

Eventually, Poh confided in an academic mentor whom she trusted. The mentor confirmed the language used in the emails was unacceptable. She then shared with Poh the impacts of cyberbullying and offered her support. 

Dark Cloud

In the TELUS Originals documentary Dark Cloud: the high cost of cyberbullying, Matthew Johnson (Director of Education at MediaSmarts) explains that the anonymous features of digital media can enable those who bully because, "it’s harder for (them) to feel empathy.”

What's more, cyberbullying by its nature is “shareable and persistent.” The bullying can happen around the clock. It can be forwarded and shared with a large audience. This compounds its effects.

“Repetition within the context of cyberbullying is different because a harmful image [or emails] can be posted once but circulated hundreds of times,” (Cassidy, 2019).

For Poh, cyberbullying contributed to her stress and self-doubt. And, although her colleague was reprimanded, it still doesn’t feel entirely over.

“Sharing my story for this interview is triggering, but I want to bring awareness to acts of abuse through technology," Poh says.

She also wants others who experience cyberbullying to know there are more people who are against this behaviour.

"When a community stands together against cyberbullying, people will think twice before typing that hurtful email or text, or posting an inappropriate image.” 

A Culture of Care

In their Top 5 Resources for Bullying Prevention, TELUS Wise reports that in 2020, 40% of youth experienced cyberbullying at least once. This was a slight decrease from 42% in 2015.

“Despite the significant increase in time spent online since the onset of the pandemic, the prevalence of cyberbullying has remained relatively consistent over time,” said Nimmi Kanji, Director of TELUS Wise. “That said, the rates are still concerning and it will require educators, parents and youth to work collectively to drive positive change.” 

As a long-time volunteer of Science World’s Scientists and Innovators in Schools (SIS) program and the founder of two STEAM-education programs for youth, Poh continues to not only support students in their career aspirations, but to also share her journey as a scientist in hopes of building a more empathetic and caring community.

Whether delivering free mentoring to students across BC through SIS, or supporting the students in her own STEMedge Academy Inc., she communicates that it’s okay to stand up for yourself and others, even when it feels scary.

“To really support people who experience cyberbullying, organizations need to have good and practical anti-cyberbullying policies in place and have measures to implement these policies when an incident occurs. I truly believe that we must work towards a deeper culture of care, compassion, and kindness.” 

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Support Pink Shirt Day.

Wear Pink on February 23, and help make online spaces safer by sharing TELUS Wise Resources with your network.

TELUS Wise® is a free digital literacy education program. It offers informative workshops and resources to help Canadians of all ages have a positive experience as digital citizens. Learn more at telus.com/wise.