The White Hatter

06/19/2026

This week marked our final student presentation of the 2025/2026 school year. After connecting with tens of thousands of students, educators, and families across Canada this past year, we are already preparing for an exciting 2026/2027 school year.

If your school is looking for an engaging, evidence informed, and multi-award-winning digital literacy, internet safety, and artificial intelligence education program, we’d love to connect. Our presentations are designed to enlighten, not frighten, helping students develop the critical thinking skills they need to navigate today’s onlife world with confidence, responsibility, and resilience. We love what we do, how we do it, and why we do it

Bookings for the 2026/2027 school year are now open.

06/19/2026

Youth, Teens, and The Myth Of The Digital Native

Many parents assume that because youth and teens have grown up with technology, they automatically understand it. They don’t. Knowing how to use an app, create a video, or navigate social media is a digital skill. Understanding privacy, algorithms, misinformation, online influence, and digital reputation is digital literacy. The challenge isn’t raising children who can use technology, it’s raising young people who can think critically about it.

To read our full article on this topic click this link https://www.thewhitehatter.ca/post/youth-teens-and-the-myth-of-the-digital-native

Many parents assume that because youth and teens have grown up with technology, they automatically understand it. They don’t. Knowing how to use an app, create a video, or navigate social media is a digital skill. Understanding privacy, algorithms, misinformation, online influence, and digital rep...

06/18/2026

For years, we have emphasized that technology in the bedroom can interfere with healthy sleep, and good sleep is essential for youth, teens, and adults alike. One of our favourite experts on this topic is Dr. Jessica Payne, a Harvard-trained neuroscientist and professor at the University of Notre Dame. Her work on how the brain processes learning, memory, emotions, and problem-solving during sleep has further reinforced for us at The White Hatter just how important quality sleep really is.

We have all heard the phrase, “sleep on it.” As it turns out, there is real science behind that advice.

When we get stuck on a difficult problem, our first instinct is often to keep thinking about it, have another discussion, or work longer hours trying to force a solution. While that effort is important, research suggests that one of the best things we can sometimes do is get a good night’s sleep.

During a stage of sleep called REM sleep, the brain works differently than it does when we are awake. The part of the brain responsible for logic, planning, and keeping us focused on what is realistic becomes less active. At the same time, areas involved in memory, emotions, and creativity become highly active.

This allows the brain to make new connections between ideas, memories, and experiences that we may not have considered during the day. In a sense, the brain is still working on the problem, but without some of the mental filters that normally limit our thinking.

That may explain why people sometimes wake up with a fresh perspective, a new idea, or a solution that seemed impossible the day before. Throughout history, scientists, inventors, artists, and writers have reported finding breakthroughs after sleeping on a problem rather than continuing to struggle with it while awake.

For parents, caregivers, and educators, this is also a reminder of how important sleep is for young people. Sleep is not simply a time when the brain shuts down. It is a time when the brain organizes information, processes emotions, strengthens learning, and sometimes finds solutions that were hiding in plain sight.

So the next time your child is frustrated with homework, a friendship issue, or a difficult decision, the best advice might not be “try harder.” It might be, “Let’s get some sleep and look at it again tomorrow.” Often, the brain does some of its best work while we are resting.

Keep bedrooms tech free!

06/18/2026

Two 14 year old Edmonton boys have been charged after AI was used to create sexualized images of female students without their knowledge or consent.

We have assisted in several of these types of incidents. This is more common than what many parents, caregivers, and educators know here in Canada. We speak to this criminal use of AI to create these types of non-consensual images in our school programs. What we have heard consistently from teens is that they believe that such images, because they are AI generated, aren't real and therefor not illegal. In our presentation, we make it clear "NOPE", and here's a great example of the consequences!

06/18/2026

Teens Are Becoming More Intentional With Technology - What We Observed This Past School Year

After presenting to thousands of students across Canada this school year, we noticed something unexpected. While concerns about screen time continue to dominate headlines, many teens are quietly moving in a different direction. They are becoming more intentional with technology, questioning algorithms, setting boundaries, curating their feeds, and using devices as tools rather than distractions.

To read our full article on this topic click this link https://www.thewhitehatter.ca/post/teens-are-becoming-more-intentional-with-technology-what-we-observed-this-past-school-year

After presenting to thousands of students across Canada this school year, we noticed something unexpected, many teens are quietly moving in a different direction. They are becoming more intentional with technology, questioning algorithms, setting boundaries, curating their feeds, and using devices a...

06/17/2026

We virtually presented simultaneously to several schools in Camrose Alberta. GREAT feedback. and GREAT way to end the 2026/2027 school Year! We already have over a dozen programs booked for the fall, and even 2 for 2027.

06/17/2026

Canadian and American law enforcement have a pretty good record in tracking online predators who live in either Canada or the USA. Here's another great example https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/canadian-sentenced-dc-33-years-sextortion-scheme-targeted-145-children-us

This is one reason we stress to parents in Canada, that if a first responder constable say's, "there's nothing we can do it's the internet", don't be afraid to push back politely at first. If they still refuse, say thank you, push harder and apply some friction by moving up the chain of command. Sometimes that push can result in action to be taken.

CAVEAT - are there cases where police will be stunted because of the internet, given where a potential predator may be located in the world and the tech they are using to hide? ABSOLUTELY! However, the first step should be to see if we can determine where they may be located first.

The White Hatter

Ramanan Pathmanathan, 40, of Toronto, Canada, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court to 33 years in federal prison in connection with a prolific sextortion scheme that targeted more than 100 children across the United States, announced U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro.

06/17/2026

Your Child Is Watching: Why Parents and Caregivers Need to Narrate Their Own Technology Use

One of the most important digital literacy lessons children learn doesn’t come from an app, a school program, or a family rule. It comes from watching us. In this article, we explore why parents and caregivers are their child’s first digital role model and how a simple habit, explaining why we use our phones, can help youth develop healthier technology habits. Sometimes the most powerful lesson about technology is not what we say, but what we consistently do.

To read our full article click this link https://www.thewhitehatter.ca/post/your-child-is-watching-why-parents-and-caregivers-need-to-narrate-their-own-technology-use

One of the most important digital literacy lessons children learn doesn’t come from an app, a school program, or a family rule. It comes from watching us. In this article, we explore why parents and caregivers are their child’s first digital role model and how a simple habit, explaining why we u...

06/16/2026

Youth voice should shape decisions, not serve as decoration. When adults ask for input but fail to act on what they hear, participation becomes performance rather than partnership. Too often, adults ask young people for their opinions only after key decisions have already been made, turning consultation into little more than a symbolic exercise.

If we genuinely believe that youth are among the primary users of these technologies, then their lived experiences should be treated as valuable evidence that informs policy, education, and platform design. Listening to youth is important, but listening without a willingness to act is simply performative engagement. It may create the appearance of inclusion, but it rarely leads to meaningful change.

This does not mean that youth should be the sole decision-makers. Adults bring experience, perspective, and responsibility to the table. However, effective solutions are often built when adult expertise is combined with youth insight. Young people can help identify emerging trends, explain how technologies are actually being used, highlight unintended consequences of policies, and provide perspectives that adults may overlook.

If we are serious about creating safer and healthier online environments, youth voice cannot be treated as a public relations exercise or a checkbox on a consultation form. It must be treated as a source of intelligence that helps shape decisions, influence outcomes, and guide action.

One of our goals here at the White Hatter is to provide that voice for youth!

Just saying!

06/16/2026

In this episode of Ask the Expert, Darren from The White Hatter speaks with Dr. Sara Grimes, a Canadian researcher who has spent more than 20 years studying children’s rights, digital policy, youth technology use, social media regulation, and age verification.

Together, they discuss why simple solutions like social media age bans may miss the mark, how moral panics can shape public policy, and why young people need to be meaningfully included in conversations about online safety. Dr. Grimes also explores the limits of age verification technology, the risks of surveillance-based approaches, and the importance of looking at youth technology use through a Canadian children’s rights lens.

This conversation is especially relevant for parents, caregivers, educators, policymakers, and anyone interested in youth online safety, digital literacy, social media regulation, and the future of technology policy in Canada.

Topics include:
Social media age bans
Age verification and age assurance
Children’s rights online
Youth voices in policy decisions
Digital literacy and internet safety
Parental concerns and public opinion
Australia’s social media ban debate
Canadian approaches to youth tech policy
Why evidence-based regulation matters

In this episode of Ask the Expert, Darren from The White Hatter spe...