Misinformation about youth, tech, and the brain often comes from people with impressive titles using fear and pseudoscience. A recent podcast claimed screens flood brains with “200x dopamine” and shrink the “thinking brain.” No credible research supports this. Studies show device use impacts depend on balance, not brain damage. Parents deserve facts, not fear, when guiding kids online.

Educators and presenters must adapt digital literacy and internet safety lessons to the realities of AI. Risks such as hyper-realistic deception, scalable grooming, disinformation, and erosion of trust make traditional approaches insufficient. At the same time, AI offers opportunities for personalized learning, creativity, accessibility, and skill-building. Preparing youth now with AI awareness, ethics, and critical thinking is essential for their safety, success, and resilie

Conversations about youth and technology often focus only on risks, but young people are not just consumers, they are creators, innovators, and culture shapers. Treating them as passive users underestimates their agency and erodes trust. Effective digital parenting means working with, not just for, youth: setting boundaries, listening, co-creating rules, and guiding critical thinking while celebrating strengths.

Parents, have you heard of “Groypers”? This far-right online movement uses memes, humor, and irony to pull youth into exclusionary worldviews. They show up in comment sections, gaming chats, and private groups, where jokes become gateways to radical ideas. By spotting the signs, secrecy, hostile language, or new online influences, parents can respond with curiosity, empathy, and clear boundaries before harm escalates.

Age-gating laws aim to protect young people, but determined users are already finding ways around them. From identity substitution and fake IDs to VPNs, prepaid cards, AI-driven testing agents, and private self-hosted networks, a cat-and-mouse game is underway. Read six common bypass tactics, why strict rules can backfire, and what parents and policymakers must watch for Read on

Pinwheel is advertised to be a child’s “first phone that grows with your child.” What we read about the Pinwheel intrigued us enough to connect with the company directly, to see if they would send us a phone to test and evaluate.