Technolandy

Day 103 (of 2025/26) Safer Internet Day…

I promote open honest conversations – especially with our younger users – while the term ‘digital native’ has been used for awhile now, it needs to be reminded that it does not mean that there is an innate knowledge of how to use the technology… just a greater familiarity with it always being around… nobody automatically knows how to shade an excel cell nor even the relatively simple copy & paste that a few years ago I thought a teacher was joking about ‘sounds like an in-service topic…’ they were not…

I loved how onramps like Club Penguin were guided places where students could practice some online netiquette (yep… old enough that it was a thing in our class early on…) It allowed for some good conversations in the classroom that I repeated at home with my own emerging tech users there… our open conversations meant that we really didn’t have many problems with screen overuse (sometimes… but there is an age appropriateness to that as well…) and they felt comfortable sharing when they ‘may have done something wrong…’

Here are some resources for some consideration about the following topics that need to be talked about… but again, not to panic about… sadly these issues have always been around but the screens are enabling us to take on these sometimes uncomfortable topics and put an end to them both online and IRL (in real life)

https://saferinternet.org.uk/safer-internet-day/safer-internet-day-2026

Here are the ‘most talked about’ online issues to be aware of (and again, information in the links to start some good conversations – and I want to comment that I love the sometimes social media jibe: we listen, and we don’t judge… when shares are shared…

Coerced online child sexual abuse. – I’d love to say that this ought not be a big deal, but it is – and especially in some ‘should be safe for kids’ spaces… it’s one thing I loved with programs that are moderated… but some – looking at you Roblox… are very troublesome. And both my girls have shares from the Roblox online community that were asking them to be their girlfriends and send them some pics…

Cyberflashing: typically males sending unasked for nude images to females. One legal concern: if an underage shares explicit images… you are suddenly in possession of child sexual abuse material, and if you delete it, you are also actively engaging in such material… always good to get RCMP involved asap.

Gaming: please consider age ratings… really – T for teen is still not for everyone and Mature is really 17+ … and the chat features in many games can be abusive at times. But have conversations with your kids about the games that they like – not all gamers are into first-person shooters… but some of the biggest esports competitions do involve them.

Misinformation: the biggest topic on my personal list – with the increase in AI slop, it is harder and harder to confirm what you’re seeing – especially when AI sometimes checks sources… which are itself – kinda like quoting yourself in a research paper…

Online Bullying: bullying may be a ‘right of passage’ to some, but that doesn’t mean that it’s good to perpetuate (though I am reminded -bullies learned the behaviour somewhere…) Much like the old analog bullying – best to be open and honest in conversations… and one positive I have seen is that the material is there to look at – unlike hushed whispers that are not quite as recordable. Reporting ain’t ratting out…

Parental controls: gotta decide what is right for your family… and be okay when things are attempted to be worked around… remember – have conversations where you listen, but don’t judge.

Pornography: always an area of curiosity; never been so easily available; education and discussions are necessary with this topic for a number of reasons, not the least of which is exploitation.

Reporting: it’s not ratting, it’s trying to ensure someone is not getting into (more) trouble, but ending trouble – and reporting is a practice that can make things safer for everyone.

Sexting: teaching about consent (fluid, and should never be assumed) and coercion (pressuring/blackmailing) is helpful so they know it’s not them… they’re not alone… they’re not the only one… and that they need to trust their gut on when it shifts from flirty to uncomfortable.

Sextortion: straight out illegal blackmail. Targets youth through social online sites; moves conversations to encrypted platforms; asks for spicy pictures; pressures for photos and videos; wants money before they share those images with family and friends… This is not a ‘blame’ scenario – and nobody needs to feel that it’s because of what they did (what they wore as an old-school example…)

Social Media: huge benefits and tremendous downsides – social media helps people fine community, but also navigating algorithms that are designed to keep you engaged even if you don’t want to be… finding balance is important and there are a variety of ways to approach social media the same way we do with all medias: consuming vs creating vs why are you entertained? Remember, even paper tablets (books) were once scorned with similar sentiments that today’s portable screens and social medias are being painted with, but never has it had such potential to be a two-way, interactive, conversation.

Gambling: I’m surprised this one hasn’t raised as much concern – gambling apps and their associated commercials make it very easy to get hooked into making a 3 leg parlay pay off – and feeling like an extension of an esport – too much in my option where in-app purchases also make the gambling and gaming end up in ‘the houses favour’ (remember, casinos and gambling sites make a lot of money for very specific reasons…).

Privacy: I do like to remind people that we once published everyones name, address and phone number in books that we dropped off around towns for free… we gotta be mindful of our data, but can’t pretend that it’s going to be easy, since most of it is out in ways that we can’t always predict – though I do like to remind people that no, the tax office is not calling for an online payment, your parcel is not being held, that online ‘great deal’ is gonna be a google play account pretty quick, and I never, ever ask anyone to buy gift cards and send me the codes… AND that AI is going to make it look and sound like it’s me asking for information I already ought to know. Critical thinking is going to be more important than ever before.

AI: the emergence of this is making a lot of uncomfortable questions being asked (just talked with a teacher about if this is the era we accentuate reading because the writing is going to be done for us, thus reading to make sure it makes sense is going to be even more important; and not that some writing doesn’t have to be learned, but maybe not to the extend we believe it should be…) along with the ethical issues around the environmental factors of AI (very expensive user of electricity and water);