The White Hatter

09/11/2026

Raising Canada 2026: Does the Evidence Really Establish Online Harms as Canada’s #1 Threat to Children?

Raising Canada 2026 identifies “Online Harms” as the #1 threat facing Canadian children. We agree online harms are real and deserve serious attention, but does the evidence actually establish them as Canada’s greatest threat? We took a deep dive into the report, its statistics, screen-time claims, overlapping risk categories, and methodology. Our question isn’t whether online harms matter. It’s whether these very different childhood risks can truly be ranked #1 to #10.

To read our article and our thoughts on this report, check out this link

Raising Canada 2026 identifies “Online Harms” as the #1 threat facing Canadian children. We agree online harms are real and deserve serious attention, but does the evidence actually establish them as Canada’s greatest threat? We took a deep dive into the report, its statistics, screen-time cla...

09/10/2026

Future of AI Work + Kids With Rachel Krayenhoff van de Leur From Ingenuity Labs

How are working professionals actually using AI beyond basic ChatGPT prompts, and what does this mean for students preparing for the future job market? We sit down in the studio with Rachel to discuss how small business owners and professionals are automating workflows, building SOP chatbots, and saving 5 to 15 hours a week. We also dive into the critical intersection of AI and education: why schools should consider local AI infrastructure for data sovereignty, how to address privacy and environmental concerns, and what core human skills kids need to cultivate to remain future-proof.

09/09/2026

When Curiosity Becomes the Hook: New School Year New Concerning Apps

Two anonymous school based social apps, Peek and Valid, are gaining attention among students. Built around compliments, polls, anonymity, and one powerful hook, curiosity, these apps raise important questions about privacy, contact sharing, social validation, bullying, and paid identity clues. Here’s what parents, caregivers, and educators should know, and why understanding how these apps influence behaviour matters.

To read our full Alert, click this link https://www.thewhitehatter.ca/post/when-curiosity-becomes-the-hook-new-school-year-new-concerning-apps

09/09/2026

A great start to the morning!

We just finished delivering a professional development session to a large group of professionals who work with youth and families across the Greater Toronto Area.

One of the things that makes The White Hatter unique is how we deliver our live virtual presentations anywhere in Canada.

Rather than relying on a traditional Zoom, Teams, or similar video conferencing setup, we broadcast from our dedicated 1,200 square foot professional studio using an integrated hardware and software production system. Our studio includes two separate broadcast sets, eight high definition studio cameras, professional lighting and audio, and the ability to move seamlessly between presenters, cameras, graphics, videos, demonstrations, and other multimedia content in real time.

The result is a live, interactive virtual presentation that feels less like a typical online meeting and much more like a professionally produced television broadcast.

We have invested heavily in this technology because we believe the quality of the delivery matters just as much as the quality of the information being shared. Whether we are presenting to educators, professionals, parents and caregivers, law enforcement, or students, our goal is to create an engaging experience that keeps people watching, learning, and participating.

It’s one of the reasons we believe The White Hatter offers a live virtual presentation experience that is truly different from anything else currently being offered in Canada.

Professional content. Professional presenters. Professional production. Live from our studio to your community, anywhere in Canada.

For those who would rather have an in-person presentation we still provide that as an option as well, however, the costs can often be significantly more given all the travel expenses to attend your location.

The White Hatter

09/08/2026

Canada Has Made Intimate Deepfakes Illegal. So Why Can Canadians Still Access Websites Designed to Create Them?

Last week we received an email, as you will read in the attached article, from a company that sells their deepfake n**e technology as a subscription model, which spawned this posting and article.

Canada now recognizes certain realistic, non-consensual intimate deepfakes as illegal. Yet Canadians can still easily access commercial websites designed to create them from an ordinary photo. If the law addresses the harm after the image is made, should Canada also examine the services built to manufacture it? This article explores website blocking, Charter rights, safeguards, and why the answer currently may not be as easy as what many believe it to be

To read our article on this topic click this link https://www.thewhitehatter.ca/post/canada-has-made-intimate-deepfakes-illegal-so-why-can-canadians-still-access-websites-designed-to-c

09/06/2026

In our AI program for high school students, one of the topics we discuss is future career choices and how artificial intelligence may change jobs that have traditionally been performed by humans. We often hear that careers in the skilled trades may be more insulated from AI-driven disruption than many office based professions. There is certainly some truth to that, particularly given the physical skill, adaptability, judgment, and problem-solving many trades require.

However, depending on the trade and the specific tasks involved, these careers are not immune to technological change either. AI powered robotics and increasingly sophisticated automation are already being explored for work that has traditionally required human hands on a job site.

Here is a great Youtube example of what we mean. The technology may not yet be ready for widespread deployment across the building trades, but it is advancing quickly. For students considering their future careers, the lesson is not to avoid the trades. It is to recognize that almost every profession will likely be touched by AI, robotics, or automation in some way. The question may increasingly become not simply, “What jobs will AI replace?” but, “How will AI change the job I choose, and what human skills will continue to make me valuable within it?”

This weekend, we attended a huge community fair where a group of teens, together with their adult mentors, were showcasing some of the incredible things they had accomplished through their robotics club. As we watched them demonstrate what they had built, we couldn’t help but think about the skills they were developing along the way. These young people weren’t just learning about robotics. They were learning how to design, build, troubleshoot, problem-solve, collaborate, adapt, and turn ideas into something that actually works. In a future where AI, robotics, and automation will likely touch almost every profession, we couldn’t stop thinking about how experiences like these may give these teens a real competitive advantage when it comes to future education, training, and employment opportunities - Just Saying!

09/06/2026

🚨 PARENT ALERT: The AI-generated “Cat in the Hat” hoax spreading through the U.S. may now be appearing in Canada. A Canadian parent contacted us after her son was tagged in a TikTok naming their city and high school with threatening language. The Cat may be fake, but when real students and schools are named, the concern and consequences can be very real. Here’s what parents need to know and what to do if their child is targeted.

To read the full alert click this link https://www.thewhitehatter.ca/post/the-cat-in-the-hat-hoax-what-canadian-parents-need-to-know

For those who do not follow us here on FB, please do so as we are constantly posting information surrounding digital literacy and internet safety that every parents, caregiver, educators, youth, and teen should know!

09/05/2026

Schools Should Be Prepared For Classroom Tech Pushback From Some Parents & Caregivers This New School Year.

As students head back to school, classrooms may face growing pushback from parents and caregivers over technology and AI. But should the debate really be about screen time or something deeper? We examine the evidence, the legitimate concerns, what technology may be replacing, and why the better question isn’t simply “tech or no tech,” but whether the tool actually improves learning. Technology should have to earn its place in the classroom.

This is the longest article we have ever written, but we believe the length is necessary given the complexity and nuance this topic deserves. If you are a teacher, school counsellor, librarian, school administrator, district administrator, or school board member, we believe this is an important read as we head into the new school year.

If you are a parent or caregiver of a youth or teen returning to school, we believe this article is equally important. Our hope is that it helps bring greater context and clarity to a conversation that is becoming increasingly polarized online, where overly simplistic and sometimes juvenoic messaging about technology, AI, screen time, and learning can easily overshadow the evidence, trade-offs, and nuance that this issue requires.

To read the full article, click this link https://www.thewhitehatter.ca/post/schools-should-be-prepared-for-classroom-tech-pushback-from-some-parents-caregivers-this-new-schoo

09/04/2026

The attached image will understandably cause some friction with some parents and caregivers. However, we believe this friction is healthy, because it creates dialogue

Banning educational technology and AI at school while students continue to have largely unrestricted access to these same technologies outside the classroom may ultimately be counterproductive, something that we have been anecdotally witnessing here at the White Hatter. If we want young people to learn when technology and AI are appropriate, when they are not, and how to use them critically, effectively, responsibly, and safely, schools can play an important role in developing those skills.

However, before we criticize a school or district for restricting or banning certain technologies, we also need to ask an equally important question, “Are educators being given the training, resources, evidence, guidance, and ongoing support they need to use technology and AI effectively as pedagogical tools?”

Simply putting technology into a classroom does not automatically improve learning. Likewise, removing technology from a classroom does not automatically improve learning. The better question is whether a particular technology serves an intentional educational purpose, is developmentally appropriate, improves or supports learning, and whether educators have been properly prepared to use it.

This is where we believe much of the current debate is becoming unnecessarily polarized. Too often, the conversation gets reduced to two positions, technology is either transforming education for the better, or it is harming learning and therefore need to be removed. We don’t believe either extreme adequately captures the complexity of what is happening in many classrooms that we have visited with.

There is a middle ground, and finding it requires moving beyond the question of “technology or no technology?” and toward the much more useful question of “what technology, for what purpose, for which students, at what age, under what circumstances, and supported by what evidence?”

Tomorrow, we will be publishing an in-depth article that we have been working on that examines this increasingly contentious issue, why it has understandably become such a hot-button topic among some parents, caregivers, educators, and school districts, and what we believe a more thoughtful, evidence informed middle ground can look like.

The White Hatter

09/04/2026

Consent Does Not End When a Relationship Does

First, we don’t particularly like the term “revenge porn” used in the headline of this CTV News article. We prefer “non-consensual distribution of intimate images” or “image-based sexual abuse.” Words matter. “Revenge porn” can imply that revenge must be the motivation, and it can frame consensually created intimate images as po*******hy, when the central issue is much simpler: an intimate image was distributed without the consent of the person depicted.

With that distinction made, this British Columbia case provides parents and caregivers with an important real-world example to share with their kids.

A man has been sentenced to jail after posting intimate videos of a former partner online without her consent. The case reinforces something we believe every young person needs to clearly understand: consenting to the creation of an intimate image, or privately sharing one with someone, does not mean consenting to its distribution.

A relationship ending, feelings changing, or trust breaking down does not suddenly give someone permission to share intimate content that was entrusted to them. Having an image on your device does not give you ownership over the person depicted or the right to decide who else gets to see it.

This is also why we need to broaden how we talk with teens about intimate images. Too often, the conversation focuses almost entirely on the person sending the image: Why did you take it? Why did you send it? We also need to speak directly to the person who receives one.

Receiving an intimate image comes with responsibility. If someone trusts you with an intimate image, you do not have permission to show it to friends, forward it to a group chat, post it online, or use it later to embarrass, threaten, control, or punish that person. Sharing it without consent can cause significant and lasting harm and, as this case demonstrates, can also carry serious criminal consequences in Canada.

For parents and caregivers, this isn’t simply a conversation about “sexting.” It is a conversation about consent, healthy relationships, privacy, trust, dignity, respect, and responsibility in today’s onlife world. One message we believe every teen should hear, “Someone trusting you with an intimate image is never permission to share it with someone else.”

The White Hatter