Ideas & Opinions

Age verification laws aim to protect kids online but risk ending digital anonymity for everyone. By shifting responsibility to users instead of platforms, these laws raise serious concerns about privacy, surveillance, and ineffective solutions. We need safety-by-design, not political cover.

A free app like CapCut may not cost money, but your child could be trading their data, face, and creativity in return. This article explores CapCut’s privacy risks, AI use, and terms of service, offering practical steps for parents to help youth make informed, safe digital choices.

Hundreds of adults, including digital safety advocates, have shared and commented on a viral video of a CEO and his HR manager embracing at a concert. This article challenges the double standard: if we teach youth empathy, consent, and digital responsibility, we must model it ourselves.

A new U.S. survey confirms what many youth experts have been seeing: nearly 3 in 4 teens have used AI companionship apps. These apps offer social, emotional, and even romantic interaction. While often used for fun, concerns include data privacy, emotional dependence, and replacing real-life support.

This article explores whether social media is to blame for teen overdose deaths. Drawing from a retired officer's experience, it argues that while tech makes drug access easier, the root cause is the rise in fentanyl. It urges parents to stay informed, talk with teens, and advocate for platform accountability.

A viral Instagram post asking ChatGPT to “think like the devil” sparks a deeper look at how AI mirrors human inputs. This article explores prompt framing, narrative influence, and the power of digital literacy in guiding how technology shapes young minds, for better or worse.

Many parents don’t realize Snapchat is more than a messaging app. Features like Spotlight serve teens algorithm-driven, often hypersexualized content, even with safety controls on. Parents need to explore it themselves before deciding if their child is ready for this platform.

Teens use social media differently as they grow, starting with self-expression and validation, then shifting toward connection and communication. Instead of banning tech, parents should ask questions, listen without judgment, and build trust through honest conversations about their teen’s onlife world.

Adult-led education alone won’t change youth online culture, only youth can. But adults still play a critical role. This article explores how digital literacy, honest conversations, and peer influence empower teens to shape safer, kinder, and more informed onlife spaces from within.

based on our extensive experience delivering educational programs to schools across North America, we’ve observed that outright bans on anything that could be interpreted as sexual can lead to serious, unintended consequences.

AI is here, and students need more than rules, they need guidance. This article explores how parents and educators can help teens use AI ethically and creatively, developing core skills like curiosity, critical thinking, empathy, and thoughtful digital literacy.

A comparison between two schools revealed a striking difference in how students use AI. One group used it to deepen learning, the other to cut corners. The key difference? Education. Teaching ethical, effective AI use matters, not just for students, but for the educators guiding them.

One Grade 11 student reveals how teens use TikTok scrolling to steer the algorithm, shift from like chasing to genuine connection, and treat sexting with growing caution and peer policing. Their stories urge parents to listen, teach law and consent, and support intentional digital choices.

Most sexual abuse teens face doesn’t come from strangers online, it comes from people they know, love, or trust. This article urges parents to shift focus from only digital threats to real-world risks like family, peers, and dating partners. Awareness, trust, and open dialogue are key.

Blaming screens for youth mental health issues oversimplifies the problem. A 2025 study shows teens most at risk online often face offline vulnerabilities, like unstable homes, mental health struggles, or lack of guidance. Tech isn't the root cause, support at home is key.

Today’s parents, especially Boomers and older Gen Xers, may be overprotecting kids in ways that hinder resilience, independence, and problem-solving. From school drop-offs to outsourcing sibling care, modern parenting often prioritizes safety over skill-building. Kids grow when we guide, not control.

This article explores how AI agents could replace smartphones within the next decade, shifting us from screens to seamless voice and AR interactions. While offering convenience, this shift raises urgent concerns around privacy, autonomy, manipulation, and digital ownership.

AI toys that replace real parent-child interaction may seem helpful, but they can disrupt a child’s emotional and social development. Toddlers need human connection, your voice, touch, and presence, to build empathy, trust, and secure attachment. No AI device can replace that. You matter most.

Some claim phones and social media are causing thousands of youth deaths each year, but current research doesn’t support that. While some tragic cases exist, the actual numbers are much lower than other youth risks. This article urges proportionate, evidence-based responses and not fear-driven bans.

Many parents support delaying tech access to protect kids, but total bans may backfire. Home restrictions can’t block every threat. Instead, kids need digital literacy, open communication, and real-world prep to navigate tech safely, because they’ll face it either way.