Are screens helping students learn, or simply keeping them busy? Two new Australian classroom studies challenge the simplistic “screens are good versus screens are bad” debate. From classroom distractions and AI to critical thinking, privacy, and digital self-regulation, the research raises important questions for parents, caregivers, and educators. Perhaps the real issue isn’t how much technology students use, but whether it supports learning or replaces thinking.

💀 doesn’t always mean death. 😭 doesn’t always mean sadness. 🍑 might be innocent, or it might not be. Welcome to the constantly evolving world of emoji communication. In this follow-up to our teen slang article, we explore how youth use emojis to express humour, emotion, sarcasm, relationships, and sometimes risk. The key for parents isn’t memorizing a “secret emoji code.” It’s understanding context, behaviour, and conversation. 👀

What if the smartphone isn’t the device that defines the next decade? Meta’s new Muse Charm, AI glasses, and OpenAI’s work with former Apple design chief Jony Ive may signal a growing race to build what comes next. For parents and caregivers, this shift could change far more than screen time. We explore the rise of personal AI, wearable technology, privacy, parental controls, and why “When should my child have their own AI?” may soon become an important question.

Smart glasses present schools with a complicated challenge. The same camera-equipped eyewear that raises legitimate concerns about privacy, consent, recording, and academic integrity may also help a visually impaired student read a worksheet, identify an object, or understand their surroundings. As schools develop smart glasses policies, we need to distinguish between misuse and meaningful accessibility, because sometimes the risk is also the accommodation.

What happens when a camera no longer needs to be pulled from a student’s pocket because it’s already sitting on their face? Camera-equipped glasses that once cost hundreds of dollars are now appearing for under $100, making discreet recording technology increasingly accessible to youth. As students return to school this fall, we examine why wearable cameras raise important questions about privacy, consent, academic integrity, and school policy.

Over nearly three decades, Darren has witnessed four distinct evolutions of online vulnerability, from AOL and social media to smartphones and artificial intelligence. Yet through every technological shift, one truth has remained constant: technology changes, but human vulnerabilities endure. The future of online safety may depend less on controlling every new technology and more on strengthening something no algorithm can replace, the human element.